11/29/06 Replacing Guthion

Replacing guthion. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report. With the eventual phasing out of guthion, fruit growers are losing a key production tool but according to Chuck Cary with Valent USA, there are alternatives. CARY: We have a product Esteem which is a insect growth regulator that will try to pick up some of the slack there as an ovicide for codling moth because the guthion is primarily use for codling moth control in tree fruit. Cary says that by using products in tandem, effective results can be seen. CARY: In the case of our product Esteem we use it as an ovicide with another product like Assail or Calypso or Ryman and in combination because it's an ovicide and kills the eggs and the other products are lavaecides it pretty well does a nice job of controlling codling moth in a program. And that's what it's going to take, I think is a good program like that to replace a product like guthion. According to Cary, Valent USA has taken an aggressive position in the market. CARY: It's my opinion that the companies that will survive will be those companies that bring new products to the market. I'm pretty proud that Valent has a good portfolio of new products coming down the pipe that look good. I think in the next five years I counted four new fungicides and two new herbicides and two new insecticides coming so we've got some products that are going to solve some problems. That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.