Syngenta is offering pear and apple producers an essential tool to guarantee their profits by significantly reducing post-harvest losses.
The company, aware of the significance of fruit conservation problems for producers’ profitability, has developed a new technology called Geoxe that is based on the action of a natural anti-fungal agent (Fludioxonil), which is secreted by some bacteria of the Pseudomonas genus. Geoxe 50 WG is a pre-harvest treatment that maintains the fruit’s quality and that reduces the losses due to rot by up to 70%, in many cases also removing the need for subsequent treatments at the conservation centre.
According to Victoria San Andrés, from Syngenta’s European fungicide R&D department, Geoxe has been tested in 28 trials on micro-plots, with 18 trials on apples and 10 on pears and in all of them it showed its high effectiveness, compatibility and lack of waste from the product. On this point, Geoxe has not shown any plant toxicity in the almost 30 trials and demonstrations at commercial farms on the different apple and pear varieties on which it has been tested, as well as not showing any toxicity when mixed with other fungicide or insecticide products on these crops.
María do Carmo Pereira, in charge of Syngenta’s fungicide portfolio for Spain and Portugal, emphasises that the good results depend greatly on when we apply the product, therefore two applications with Geoxe are recommended: 10 days and 3 days before harvesting, as well as alternating with other chemical families for situations of great pressure requiring a minimum of three fungicide treatments.
In short, Geoxe is a new technology that responds to the producers’ demands: high levels of effectiveness; broad spectrum of action against the main fungi that affect fruit; using a single active ingredient with a three day safety period; it offers tolerance for global imports and without ARfD; and it has an excellent toxicological profile, guaranteeing quality productions.
