Life without lindane begins this spring but that won’t hurt canola
growers’ crops, says a Canola Council of Canada agronomist.
“The new products provide levels of control similar to the products
that we had before, and in the cases of Helix Extra and Gaucho
Platinum, probably comparable to the dual treatment with a granular,”
said Derwyn Hammond during Manitoba Ag Days in Brandon.
“I think the options are available. The biggest question I get is ‘what
about the price?’ “
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Prairie-wide tests at canola council production centres of several
canola seed treatments showed all the main treatments that contain
replacements for lindane had adequate control of flea beetles.
Foundation Premium, Foundation Premium Plus and Titan FL are as yet
unregistered and are not expected to be available this spring, but
Helix, Helix Xtra, Gaucho Canola System and Gaucho Platinum will be
available. All did as well or better than the check Foundation, which
was a dominant seed treatment but is now unavailable because it
contained lindane.
Results were better with the insecticide-treated seed than with
insecticide-free Foundation Lite because flea beetles appeared in all
the test sites.
Uncontrolled infestations of the beetles in Foundation Lite-treated
tests resulted in substantially fewer bushels per acre in three out of
four sites, and slightly lower yields in the remaining site.
Flea beetle damage caused delayed development in the Foundation Lite
plots.
The new treatments will cost more than the old ones, said Hammond, but
farmers shouldn’t see their profitability substantially cut.
“It looks like they’re competitive in terms of economic returns
compared with the products that we had before,” said Hammond.
JoAnne Buth, the canola council’s crop production manager, said
Foundation cost about 55 cents per pound of treated seed, but the new
treatments are generally $1-$1.20 per lb.
However, some seed dealers are offering treated seed at between 75
cents and $1 per lb.
“Growers really should check with their seed dealers, because there’s a
real variation out there,” said Buth.
While Foundation Lite looked bad in the study compared to the other
treatments, it can still have a role for a producer who doesn’t face a
yearly fight with flea beetles and wants to save some money with the
fungicide-only seed treatment followed up with a spray insecticide if
flea beetles appear later.
“You have the option to look at a foliar application,” said Hammond.
“That way you can save the money on that insecticide component and only
look at a foliar if you need it.”
A grower doing that must be diligent in checking crops frequently. A
hot, dry spring can bring an onslaught of flea beetles “which can
devour a crop in a couple of days.”
