Corteva Agriscience’s revolutionary chemistry, oxathiopiprolin, the leading product for the prevention of late blight in potatoes, is now available for Irish farmers in a new formulated product Zorvec Entecta.

Zorvec Entecta is a liquid formulation combining the Zorvec active (oxathiopiprolin) with amisulbrom in a one-litre bottle, providing protection from late blight for up to 10 days after application.

Corteva launched the Zorvec active in 2018 and it was originally sold in co-packs. More recently, it was available in co-from with benthiovalicarb as Zorvec Endavia. Since then it has played a significant role in evolving blight strategies, due to its robust preventative activity and the ability to stretch intervals to 10 days between applications.

This new co-formulation pushes the boundaries of traditional spray programmes by delivering market leading persistence, that provide unrivalled duration of protection, tackling late blight present in the plant, as well as moving systemically to protect new growth.

Alister McRobbie, Category Manager for Potatoes at Corteva said “We’re delighted to achieve registration for Zorvec Entecta in Ireland, where growers will benefit from access to the new product in 2023.

“Zorvec Entecta retains all the qualities of previous Zorvec active products that made them such a vital tool for the potato crop”.

Data from the James Hutton institute revealed that blight strains found in UK and Ireland continue to evolve, making for a particular dynamic and challenging population.

The 6 A1 strain continues to account for a significant proportion of the population, although it is being steadily displaced by the more aggressive 36 A2 strain in the UK.

“We are seeing no let-up in the challenge facing growers, who will continue to need effective chemistry that allows them to create programmes that fight disease and counter the threat of resistance,” Alister adds.

Farmers can apply Zorvec Entecta at 0.25l/ha up to four times during a season. In order to get the most from the product, growers should consider making two applications during the rapid growth phase, making best use of its curative, preventative and systemic activity.

Retaining a further two applications for the latter half of the programme at the stable canopy phase of the crop. These should be timed to tackle increases in the late blight threat as indicated by forecasting systems.