Scouting Notes - April 2008

Valent sells Orthene product line. In January, Valent U.S.A. Corp. sold its Orthene insecticide product line to AMVAC Chemical Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of American Vanguard Corp. The sale will allow Valent to focus on its current portfolio of crop protection products and its new materials.

Under the agreement, AMVAC will take ownership of the assets of the Orthene product line including all registrations, formulations and existing inventories.

In December, AMVAC acquired the pentachloronitrobenzene fungicide product line (Turfcide and Terraclor brands) from Chemtura Corp.

For more: Valent Corp.; (800) 898-2536; www.valent.com. AMVAC Chemical Corp., (888) 462-6822; www.amvac-chemical.com.

Seminis advises Dutch growers about tomato disease. In January, Seminis advised Dutch growers of tomato transplants and greenhouse tomatoes to carefully inspect their plants for disease symptoms associated with Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. michiganesis (Cmm). The disease is highly contagious and can be introduced by various sources. If disease symptoms are observed, Seminis is encouraging growers to contact appropriate plant authorities for additional inspection or testing.

For more: Seminis, (314) 694-1000; www.seminis.com. Plant Protection Service, telephone 011 (31) 317-496911; www.minlnv.nl/pd.

Connecticut looks to ban invasive plant through self-regulation. Connecticut’s green industry has been given the opportunity to self-regulate the banning of the invasive plant Ampelopsis brevipedunculata (porcelainberry). The Connecticut Invasive Plants Council made the decision in January that rather than ask the state legislature to pass a legal ban on the plant, it would allow the green industry to self-regulate itself to stop its production and sale.

For more: Connecticut Greenhouse Growers Association, (203) 261-9067; www.hort.uconn.edu/cipwg.

Natural compound found to control fungi. New fungicides isolated from natural sources hold potential for effective disease control. Scientists at University of Southern Mississippi and USDA-Ag Research Service compared the effect of sampangine, a natural product-based fungicide, to the effect of seven commercial fungicides (benomyl, captan, cyprodinil, fenbuconazole, fenhexamid, iprodione and kresoxim-methyl). Five fungal pathogens (Botrytis cinerea, Colletotrichum acutatum, C. fragariae, C. gloeosporioides and Fusarium oxysporum) were treated with the natural product-based and commercial fungicides.

The effects of the fungicides were measured on spore germination and on subsequent mycelial growth. Sampangine performed as well as the commercial products on four of the five fungi. Further evaluation of this product is planned as it moves toward commercial production.

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For more: Kenneth Curry, University of Southern Mississippi, Department of Biological Sciences, (601) 266-6138; www.ars.usda.gov/research.

April 2008