Vercoras will be available for the 2022 growing season
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
BASF is bringing a new product to InVigor canola growers for the 2022 growing season.
Vercoras, the company’s first seed treatment for InVigor canola, recently received registration from the Pest Management Regulatory Agency.
The treatment includes the insecticide active ingredient Clothianidin (Gr. 4) and four fungicide active ingredients: Fluopyram (Gr. 7), Metalaxyl (Gr. 4), Fluxapyroxad (Gr. 7) and Pyraclostrobin (Gr. 11).
Vercoras will provide early season protection against multiple insects and diseases, said Chris Hewitt, marketing lead, seed treatments and inoculants at BASF.
“A key focus for the product is to provide frontline protection against flea beetles,” he told Farms.com. “This is also the first seed treatment to offer control of airborne blackleg. We know this disease is important to canola growers and we wanted to provide a solution for them.”
Vercoras also helps control Fusarium, Rhizoctonia and Pythium.
The seed treatment received federal approval after three years in development.
During that time, BASF has tested Vercoras on company plots and with select growers.
“Feedback so far has been fairly positive and we’re happy to be able to provide farmers, in a robust way, access to this kind of technology,” Hewitt said.
Canola industry reps are pleased to see this kind of innovation come to market.
Any tools which provide farmers opportunities to protect their crops and investments are welcomed, said Justine Cornelsen, agronomist specialist with the Canola Council of Canada.
“Blackleg and flea beetles not only cause significant challenges and frustration for growers, but they also have the potential to negatively impact the long-term success of Canada’s canola industry,” she said in a statement. “The Canola Council of Canada is committed to working with industry partners like BASF to provide growers with agronomic resources and innovative solutions that help fuel success for the upcoming season, while striving to shape a sustainable future for farming.