Risk management is critical for optimal control and market access
The importance of mitigating and managing risk throughout the season cannot be overstated. To help customers ensure optimal control of pests and diseases that may affect the quality of crops and crop yield, Villa has now invested heavily in new products and services.
Resolutions 360: in season management principles
One of the biggest challenges facing the fresh produce export industry is the banning of some crop protection compounds and resultant changes or defaulting of Import Tolerances (MRL’s) to levels below detection. Understanding and managing these MRL’s is critical for organizations that export fruit products and essential for accessing key export markets such as the European Union. The product positioning in line with export MRL’s is complicated and dynamic. Villa needed to invest in services to mitigate the risks. The company has established a comprehensive product portfolio, expertise and customer base in the citrus industry with a significant share in citrus registrations and a strong alignment with the industry and growers.
One of the elements of effective MRL management is in-season residue sampling. However, it may be expensive and time consuming in some instances. ReSolutions 360™ is a new programme that Villa launched in 2019 with the aim of mitigating these issues through specific sample location selection.
By analysing satellite imagery and selecting sampling locations based on factors such as the crop vigour and fruit positions within the tree, Resolutions 360™ enables farmers and technical advisors to detect those high-risk samples associated with the slowest residue breakdown. This gives them the opportunity to manage pesticides exceeding the acceptable MRL and may in turn also improve the efficacy and cost of sampling, ensuring that the worst-case scenario with regards to pesticide residue is accounted for and can be managed in-time. The long-term vision is to build use-trends and resulting residue levels into a database that allows for better decision making.
Precision Ag services
The key to Precision Ag is to be able to adapt in season and optimize crop potential. This in-field tools need to add a better return on investment to be sustainable in the long run and is the main reason so many Precision Ag start-ups have failed. To assist the growers with these tools, Villa have invested as part of their total product offer in Metos SA to provide weather stations to farmers that can help them identify ideal spraying conditions, insect monitoring, rain and water management and monitoring plant diseases in advance models to identify possible disease risk.
Furthermore, the monitoring of nutritional deficiencies during the season is becoming increasingly more important to pursue optimal yields. Villa’s NutriSolutions 360 programme, which forms part of its Precision Ag services, enables the farmer to identify possible deficiencies during specific phenological growth stages during the season. It uses satellite imagery which indicates possible limiting factors in a field.
Patented technology – ensuring optimal deposition, coverage and absorption of crop protection compounds
The optimal deposition of Crop Protection Compounds is extremely important because the South African weather conditions are often detrimental for efficacy. The greatest challenges are normally low humidity and temperature extremes. The lower the humidity, the less the absorption time of crop protection products, and the lower the efficacy will be. If there is a method to keep droplet deposits moist for longer and to keep them conducive for uptake, then more effective absorption will occur.
The Max-In product line and several new adjuvants form part of the NutriSolutions 360 and Crop Protection portfolio. It contains a patented additive called CornSorb™ technology.
Winfield United, one of the largest role players in the USA adjuvant industry, saw the need for a top-class humectant and subsequently developed CornSorb™ technology. It is a mixture of a unique surfactant spreader and a humectant, both derived from sugar-based products. This technology caused a huge revolution in the ag-chem industry and has improved the efficacy of both glyphosate and glufosinate on hard-to-control weeds.
Other applications of CornSorb™ technology
The CornSorb™ technology additive is also available in some of Villa’s Adjuvant products. One that has proved to be very successful is CLASS ACT NG.
CLASS ACT NG has a highly extended droplet drying time and the moist droplet deposit increases absorption speed and amount. It contains a full rate of surfactant for droplet spreading and increased absorption which allows for faster control. It creates more effective control on hardy weeds. The product contains ammonium sulphate to negate salt antagonism and is also registered with leading brand name glyphosate products.
The CornSorb™ technology concept has been so successful with CLASS ACT NG that Winfield United has also incorporated it into various other products. Some of the future Villa adjuvants will also contain this technology.
We believe that CornSorb™ will be one of the main drivers of increased weed control in future.The environmental conditions in South Africa have always been the biggest enemy of crop protection products. Villa is incredibly excited about the CornSorb™ technology and the value that it brings to spray applications. CornSorb™ has made a massive contribution in the USA and we believe its contribution to the South African industry will be even greater.
Villa continues to find new solutions that deliver better results for our clients. There is no doubt that these new products and services will achieve exactly that.
For more information on these innovations, visit www.villacrop.co.za or call us at (011) 396 2233.
Registration details: Class Act NG: Reg. No. L 10477 Act/Wet No. 36 of/van 1947, Caution ACTIVE INGREDIENTS ammonium sulphate 480 g/l PLUS a non-ionic surfactant (Alkylpolyglycoside C8-10 / Agnique PG 8105)
Registration Holder: Winfield Solutions, Registration Holdings (Pty) Ltd. Co. Reg. No.2015/312008/07, PO Box 10413, Aston Manor, 1630, Tel: 011 396 2233, www.villacrop.co.za
Villa continues to find new solutions that deliver better results for customers
