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Corteva Agriscience™ / News Centre / New APVMA approvals for Verpixo® fungicide offer growers more flexibility
Article •  26/8/2024

New APVMA approvals for Verpixo® fungicide offer growers more flexibility

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Corteva Agriscience’s Group 21 product Verpixo® Adavelt® active has achieved APVMA approval for new crop registrations, further boosting its reputation as a highly effective fungicide that delivers on the broad-spectrum control of ascomycete diseases.

Verpixo® has become the go-to option for vine and vegetable growers seeking a new mode of action as well as flexibility in resistance programs, in the battle to control damaging diseases like botrytis, powdery mildew, alternaria and septoria.

Trialled extensively under Australian field conditions, Verpixo® has been proven to have no known cross-resistance to other fungicide groups, is IPM-friendly and can be used across a wide range of crops at multiple growth stages.

In August 2024, the fungicide was approved by the APVMA for additional diseases:

  • Cucurbits – powdery mildew and gummy stem blight (NEW)

  • Fruiting vegetables – powdery mildew, target spot, anthracnose (NEW) and botrytis (NEW)

  • Leafy vegetables – sclerotinia, septoria (NEW), botrytis (NEW) and anthracnose (NEW).

In addition to the new diseases, a NEW crop registration:

  •  Wine grapes and Table grapes for control of both botrytis and powdery mildew. 

Corteva's Chris Brown
Corteva's Chris Brown, said the approval of two applications of Verpixo® up to E-L 31, berries pea size, is a major bonus for vignerons.
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Corteva's Chris Brown
Corteva's Chris Brown, said the approval of two applications of Verpixo® up to E-L 31, berries pea size, is a major bonus for vignerons.

Custom fungicide programs ‘redefined’ by flexible product

Corteva Agriscience Territory Manager for Central Queensland and Wide Bay Burnett, Matt Kunde, said it was exciting to have Verpixo® available for use on a broader range of crops and diseases.

“In many cases, existing chemistries are under threat of resistance, so this product will redefine custom fungicide programs. It gives growers the flexibility to successfully manage diseases strategically throughout the year,” Mr Kunde said.

“Being a single Group 21, Verpixo® is stand-alone. It can be added to the existing disease control programs to lengthen the life of existing mode of action products, or farmers can substitute it where products are not working well, to provide a strong new treatment to maximise production. 

“Verpixo® is naturally inspired, broad spectrum, safe to crops, safe to beneficial insects, has a short pre-harvest interval of one day for most crops, flexible timing and tank mixes are possible, and it has a rain-fast period of three hours.”

Premium quality vineyards to benefit from control

The new mode of action is keenly sought in the viticulture industry, particularly in vineyards in high rainfall zones susceptible to botrytis and powdery mildew. These include McLaren Vale, Coonawarra and the Adelaide Hills in South Australia, Tasmania, the Yarra and King Valleys of Victoria and the Hunter Valley in NSW.

Chris Brown, Corteva Agriscience Customer Technology Specialist based in Adelaide, said Verpixo® provides growers with a strong preventative alternative to products they have been using for many years.

“The timing is flexible if they’re applying Verpixo® to control botrytis. The Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI) approved two applications up to E-L 31, berries pea size, and this is a major bonus for vignerons as a lot of alternate control chemistries are limited to E-L 25 and E-L 29,” Mr Brown said.  

“Timing is critical to protect grapes from botrytis in potential infection sites at inflorescence, so the E-L 31 positioning for Verpixo® is important – it’s the final chance to put covers on the berries before the bunch closes, and it will give wineries everywhere a lot more flexibility in their spray program.”

Corteva’s Matt Kunde said new label registrations for Verpixo® will redefine custom fungicide programs and provide growers more flexibility.
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Corteva’s Matt Kunde said new label registrations for Verpixo® will redefine custom fungicide programs and provide growers more flexibility.

Trials across Australia show product versatility

Since its commercial release in January 2024, following APVMA approval for use in strawberries, fruiting vegetables, leafy vegetables and cucurbits, Corteva’s Rob Annetts said Verpixo® has become the ‘Rolls Royce treatment’ for powdery mildew.

Control of powdery mildew has been achieved at rates of 1.25L/ha-1.5L/ha.

“Verpixo® is derived from a naturally occurring compound found in soil bacteria and produced synthetically,” explained Mr Annetts, Corteva’s Principal Biologist. 

“It builds on new chemistry first established by Corteva Agriscience, with some tweaks to provide better UV stability, broader spectrum and a lower use rate to make it ideally suited to Australian conditions.

“It’s a very useful tool as a rotation partner where pathogen resistance to SDHIs, strobilurins and triazoles is a concern.”

New trials test impact on gummy stem blight

Ongoing replicated trials testing Verpixo® on gummy stem blight in watermelons, rockmelons, honeydew and pumpkins in Queensland and Western Australia have also produced impressive results, achieving suppression at rates of 1.5L/ha that still allow growers to get a crop off. 

Verpixo® proved to have very good efficacy against anthracnose and grey mould in 11 trials on tomatoes, capsicums, eggplants and chillies in Tasmania, South Australia, Queensland and WA, at rates of 1.5L/ha in the field and 150ml/100L in the glasshouse.

Originally registered to control sclerotinia on leafy vegetables at 1.5L/ha, Verpixo® has since produced excellent results on grey mould, septoria and anthracnose in 16 trials in Queensland and WA.

Growers can expect to see QR stickers applied to the caps of existing inventory that direct them to the most recent updates and APVMA-approved new label changes for Verpixo® Adavelt active can be found on the Corteva Agriscience website.

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