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Diggin' In Diggin' In BASF fungicide provides great control of early blight A Leg Up FUNGICIDE | By Tyrell Marchant When it comes to potato diseases, late blight seems to get all the attention, thanks in large part to a little historical blip known as the Irish Potato Famine. Perhaps that's as it should be; late blight still manages to rear its ugly head and occasionally wreak havoc on the potato industry nearly two centuries later. However, its cousin and partner in crime, early blight, has to potential to be just as devastating to a modern potato crop. That's why BASF is focusing so much attention on promoting its Provysol product to farmers and agronomists. First approved for use on commercial potatoes in 2020, Provysol has exhibited excellent control — both in trial and field conditions — of early blight, as well as against brown spot and black dot. "The last several years, Provysol has performed very well in high-pressure research trials," says Curtis Rainbolt, a tech- nical service representative for BASF who works with potato growers and processors throughout the Pacific Northwest. "And on the marketable acres where it was used in 2020, we saw very good results. Growers are happy with the level of disease control." HOW IT WORKS Provysol is an isopropanol azole chemistry powered by BASF's fungicidal active ingredient Revysol. Engineered with a flexible molecule, it quickly penetrates plants for fast, long-lasting control. The unique isopropanol azole bridge allows the Revysol molecule to customize its shape, allowing for tighter binding at the enzyme site of action, combating diseases like early blight in potatoes, Cercospora leaf spot and powdery mildew in sugarbeets, and early and late leaf spot in peanuts. Through the real-life trials the product has been run through on potato acres, Rainbolt says growers and agrono- mists have determined that it is most effective when applied early in a grower's spray program. It delivers early protection that sets up the rest of the program for long-lasting control and success. USING PROVYSOL Products with effective fungicidal action against early blight aren't exactly new; several effective products have been on the market for years. The issue, Rainbolt says, is that the pathogen has developed some level of resistance in many growing areas. "The biggest reason we wanted to get Provysol on the market is for resistance management," says Rainbolt. "The industry has been heavily reliant on SDHI and Group 7 chemistries. Those are still effective, but we stick with them too much, we risk reduced sensitivity with early blight and brown spot. That's why we're excited to introduce Provysol to fungicide programs, offering good performance and resis- tance management." For the most effective disease control, Rainbolt recom- mends growers in the Northwest incorporate Provysol into their spray programs early, right around row closure, then a second application 14 days later. "To do the best job against early blight and brown spot, it's best to use your strongest products earlier in the fungicide program," he says. "After row closure, you get a microcli- 34 POTATO GROWER | MAY 2021