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Corteva Agriscience™ / News Centre / Quality and taste are the keys to Sweet Berries at Silvan
Article •  6/9/2024

Quality and taste are the keys to Sweet Berries at Silvan

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Strawberries of high quality that taste great are the goal for Mick Molluso on his property at Silvan, in the Yarra Valley of Victoria.

This is achieved through a combination of variety selection, good agronomics, and a range of chemistry to produce strawberries that are in demand by Australian consumers.

The Molluso family established the enterprise in 1995 and since then have seen a wide range of changes in the way they farm and grow their produce.

There are three or four varieties that are suited to the climate in Victoria and enable them to plant at different times of the year and harvest for many months.

Alex Golikidis and Mick Molluso of Sweet Berries at Silvan, VIC, inspecting strawberries that are kept disease-free with the help of Verpixo fungicide.
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Alex Golikidis and Mick Molluso of Sweet Berries at Silvan, VIC, inspecting strawberries that are kept disease-free with the help of Verpixo fungicide.

Mr Molluso said their summer planting is in January and February followed by the winter plant in May and June with harvest usually occurring from mid-October through until mid-May.

Protective fungicides are necessary in an area that can get between 750 and 950mm of rainfall each season with a crop that grows and produces across many months of the year.

"We try to rotate because you don’t want to build up resistance,” Mr Molluso said.  “Even if the product is great, we do change from product to product and chemical groups to help our management.”

He said the main disease challenges are Grey mould (Botrytis cinerea) and Powdery mildew (Sphaerotheca macularis) and they implemented a preventative program to minimise the chance of any damage.

Both diseases can cause major fruit damage and loss if left unchecked, so the program involves a wide range of fungicide options.

Mr Molluso said this season they introduced Verpixo® Adavelt active fungicide from Corteva Agriscience into the mix and were impressed with the results.

“We thought Verpixo would complement our spray program and it seems to have done a really good job controlling the disease.  I've used it twice this year.  When we can start seeing that we're going to come into some pressure - we've applied it before that period."

One of the applications occurred in April at a time when the weather was getting cooler and there was more rain.

Mick Molluso of Sweet Berries, at Silvan, VIC, used Verpixo fungicide preceding rain events to control Grey mould (Botrytis cinerea) and Powdery mildew (Sphaerotheca macularis).
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Mick Molluso of Sweet Berries, at Silvan, VIC, used Verpixo fungicide preceding rain events to control Grey mould (Botrytis cinerea) and Powdery mildew (Sphaerotheca macularis).

The targeted application of Verpixo was around weather events where they knew disease was likely and a decision was made to look at a superior product in that situation.

“You look at the amount of crop that you have on the plant and target it when it's going to be suitable,” Mr Molluso said.  “If you've got a high yield obviously you need to make sure that you're putting on your better products."

He said they learned about Verpixo from their local agents, and it provided a good option in their fungicide program.

Verpixo controls both key diseases of Grey mould and Powdery mildew and, as a Group 21 fungicide, provided a new mode of action to the strawberry industry.

It has a short one-day, pre-harvest interval which provides flexibility at a critical time of the season.

Mr Molluso said they had implemented an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program across the enterprise for many years and one of the key considerations with new products was its ability to suit this system.

“We’ve got pest issues, and you have to find products that are going to be IPM-friendly as well," he said.

“We are very heavily reliant on IPM, so we are trying to adapt to a system where we spray less and target sprays. That way we're minimising what chemicals we're putting onto the plant."

Verpixo was tested in Australian conditions before release and found to have low, to no, impact on a range of beneficial insects and pollinators.

This makes it an ideal option to include in an IPM program.

Mr Molluso said the strawberry industry had evolved over the almost twenty years they have been producing, with new techniques and products coming through.

He said one key change was to lift the strawberry production off the ground and into planters for easier picking to combat the difficulty they have had sourcing labour.

“We looked at other ways to attract labour to work for us and off the ground is also better in regard to the management of fungicides.  You have more airflow so that is where we are heading in the future.”

“We've made special-purpose sprayers for the strawberries grown off the ground and some high-pressure air-assisted units as well.  They both work at different times of the season, and we’ll adapt to whichever equipment is suitable for that period."

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