Potent Fungicide Receives Approval for Nuts

Article by: Hari Yellina (Orchard Tech)

An additional fungicide for the control of diseases in almonds and macadamias has been approved. BASF’s Belanty contains a new mode of action to control Alternaria and powdery mildew. The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) approved the crop and disease registrations for Belanty which was first released in 2020. Belanty has become an alternative solution for controlling powdery mildew in grapevines and black spots in apple orchards. For the first time, Belanty can also be used to manage key diseases in macadamia and almond orchards.

BASF horticulture portfolio manager Serge Usatov said the new registrations are strategically important in two ways. First, they will improve growers’ control of particular diseases in each season. In almonds, Belanty can be used to control blossom blight and shot hole, and for suppression of leaf rust and hull rot. Those use patterns complement Merivon’s overlapping registrations for control of blossom blight, shot hole, leaf rust, Alternaria, anthracnose and scab. Nut growers will be especially pleased to have an equally innovative rotation partner for Merivon.

They can now maintain control season after season without too much reliance on a single mode of action. It is very rewarding for the entire BASF team that we keep adding to the range of great crop protection solutions growers can choose from and switch between. New research into the fatty seed has revealed the world’s dominant commercial cultivar – grown in Hawaii – originated from a single tree in southern Queensland from the 19th century. Native to Australia, macadamia trees are only found naturally in southern Queensland and northern New South Wales.