Vacciplant® Max and Spirox®, the most innovative solutions from UPL Iberia against powdery mildew on vine

UPL Iberia gathered, last Thursday, March 5, more than fifty commercial delegates and distributors from all over the country, to present their global solutions in plant health for the cultivation of vines, a strategic sector for the company where they have a complete catalog, with herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, biocontrol and biostimulants.

The seminar, which took place at the Husa Gran Vía Hotel in the capital of La Rioja, focused on the presentation to the attendees of four solutions: SPIROX® (fungicide), VACCIPLANT® MAX (biocontrol), THIOPRON® (fungicide – acaricide) and Bordelés RSR DISPERSS® broth (fungicide).

Félix Lorente, General Director of UPL Iberia and the Mediterranean area, was in charge of welcoming the attendees, contextualizing the position of the new UPL worldwide: “Today we occupy 5th place in the world ranking of agrochemical companies, with a strengthened position and a clear commitment to continue offering new solutions for the sector. We have more than 25 patented molecules, being the entity with the most products registered with the Ministry of Agriculture. This allows us to offer our producers global solutions in an era where digitization is the way to go, and where all the links in the value chain are interrelated. It is what we call the new open agriculture, OpenAG. This is our commitment to the sector: to be an innovative company with different solutions ”.

SPIROX®

Following this introduction by the CEO of UPL Iberia, Leónidas Tousias responsible for fungicides at UPL Iberia spoke to present SPIROX®. It is an antioid fungicide, with preventive and curative action, that protects new growths: a unique mode of action that does not affect winemaking. “It is a new active substance, Spiroxamine, which presents a unique mode of action on the vine, making it essential in anti-resistance strategies,” argued Tousias, adding that one of its advantages is that, in just three hours, the product is already inside the plant. A key aspect in the face of weather that is not as predictive as it is today. “It is also registered for Integrated Production, as it has no effects on auxiliary fauna, being also registered in the main export countries.”

VACCIPLANT® MAX

Emilie Seguret, Marketing Manager at UPL Iberia focused her presentation on biosolutions, a development area where UPL is currently focusing great efforts, understanding that they are a business line in full growth at the moment. Within these biosolutions, Seguret presented VACCIPLANT® MAX, a biofungicide based on algae, highly effective against powdery mildew on vine, in addition to horticulturals such as eggplant, tomato, pepper, zucchini, cucumber and fruits such as strawberries, table grapes or Apple tree. “VACCIPLANT® MAX is based on Laminarin, an inducer of plant defenses, which activates natural defense mechanisms, putting the plant in a state of alert, preparing it for a possible attack by the pathogen. VACCIPLANT® MAX is suitable for organic farmers, is free of MRLs, and does not present a risk of resistance.

THIOPRON®

Another of UPL’s star solutions for vine cultivation is THIOPRON®, it is a fungicide for the control of powdery mildew and mites on vine, based on sulfur and vegetable oils, with high resistance to washing and complete adherence to the green cover. For Javier García, Crop Manager of UPL Iberia for vineyard, it is precisely this characteristic, its high resistance to washing (Rain Free Formulation) the great competitive advantage of THIOPRON® compared to other solutions: “The optimized particle size and the co-formulants present in the formulation they provide greater resistance to treatment. It is not just another sulfur ”, concluded Javier García.

Bordelés RSR DISPERSS® Broth

Lastly, the Crop Manager of UPL Iberia for vineyard focused on the Bordelés RSR DISPERSS® Broth. It is a fungicide for mildew and bacteriosis on the vine, suitable for organic farming, where all copper is in the form of Brocantite, the most active and stable molecular form of copper. “This ensures efficacy at a lower dose and greater persistence. Furthermore, its solubility is a key factor, offering user safety, ease of use, no lumps and optimization of mixtures with other products ”, Javier García completed his explanation of this UPL Iberia solution for growing grapes.

Demonstrated efficacy

After a short coffee break, José Miguel Peña, Ph.D., agricultural engineer at the University of La Rioja, presented the studies carried out last season based on the three UPL Iberia solutions for powdery mildew control, confirming the competitive advantages described before: “VACCIPLANT® MAX is presented as an excellent treatment in early periods, indicated not only for organic farming; SPIROX® equally effective before and after flowering, and THIOPRON® offers great dissolution and resistance to washing, maintaining its efficacy for a longer time ”, the professor argued with various studies.

Discussion Table

After these presentations, the debate on the evolution of plant health in viticulture was held, counting for it with Javier García, Crop Manager of UPL Iberia for vineyard, José Miguel Peña, Ph.D., agricultural engineer from the University of La Rioja, José Miguel Ramos , agricultural engineer and member of the viticulture expert group of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, and Gregorio Gordaliza, viticulture consultant.

Led by Clara Narrillos, head of communication and digital marketing at UPL Iberia, it was analyzed how the vine sector has evolved in recent years. For José Miguel Peña, today the management of the vines is very different from that of a few years ago, since solutions are being eliminated without having real alternatives, which is posing serious problems for the farmer.

In this sense, he claimed the need to carry out joint work between public entities such as the University and private entities such as UPL to achieve these effective solutions for current pests and diseases, as well as training agricultural technicians. “The vine farmer today has a great capacity for adaptation, and is ready for these changes in trend, but the lack of agricultural technicians in the field of viticulture is a reality, to help the farmer in this evolution towards new solutions and management “José Miguel Peña pointed out.

In this context, Gregorio Gordaliza insisted on this change of model, not only in terms of management, but also in the form of management of the exploitation, in the technification of it, to seek greater associationism that leads him to make its activity more competitive. “Otherwise, the vineyard farms in La Rioja, for example, will disappear,” added Gordaliza.

Another issue debated was how pest management should be addressed. In this sense, José Miguel Ramos, an agricultural engineer and member of the viticulture expert group of the Ministry of Agriculture, defended integrated pest management, where not only plant health is taken into account, but also agronomic aspects such as location of the plots, irrigation… ”In addition we have to value the very important role that plant health plays, they are the medicines of plants and as such we must defend their use and need for a safe, healthy diet and a profitable agricultural activity and competitive ”.

With these conclusions, the Table of the Vineyard of UPL Iberia ended, recalling the clear commitment of the company to offer global solutions for the farmer, in a new way of understanding agriculture, an open agriculture that speaks to us of connection and digitization.

The conference could be followed on social networks under the hashtag #viñaUPL2020