An 120-day emergency authorization has been granted for the use of an insecticide for the control of peach–potato aphids to prevent virus yellows infection in sugar beet.
The emergency authorization, applied for by British Sugar and NFU, permits up to two treatments of Biscaya (thiacloprid) per crop at a maximum individual dose of 0.4 L/ha.
[Editor’s note: Read Viewpoint: Farmers’ crops are failing, and Europe’s precautionary assault on neonicotinoid insecticides is to blame to learn more.]
The British Beet Research Organisation (BRRO) head of science Dr Mark Stevens said use should be driven by awareness of aphids in crops and treatment thresholds.
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Previously seed treatments were at work when winged aphids entered crops, but with foliar spraying there is often an unavoidable time lag from identification of a threshold to application of product …. “Get the insecticide on immediately. We don’t want secondary spread of virus within the crop, especially at early growth stages when virus yellows’ impact on yield is at its greatest,” [Dr Stevens] said.
Read full, original article: Emergency authorisation granted for sugar beet insecticide
