Movento label additions – Lettuce (western flower thrips), rhubarb, bulb vegetable crop group and herbs
The Australian lettuce, bulb vegetable, rhubarb and herb industries combined consist of approximately 13 800 hectares. Depending on the industry, the key sucking pests include aphids and/or thrips, however, across all above mentioned crops few or no registered pesticide options exist. In lettuce, the main product currently registered for western flower thrips is SuccessTM Neo. Movento® 240 SC Insecticide, a group 23 insecticide is registered for use in lettuce production but only for aphids. In the bulb vegetable industry (other than onions), the key sucking pest is onion thrips (Thrips tabaci). Currently, the bulb vegetable industry (other than onions), has access to one registered thrips option, the active ingredient dimethoate, while garlic also has a registration for methidathion. In rhubarb there are currently no registered products for the control of aphids and thrips. The herb industry has access to a small number of registered products and only for the control of aphids. The registered aphicide actives include alpha-cypermethrin (a synthetic pyrethroid) and chlorpyrifos (an organophosphate); both are disruptive to beneficial species when used in a spray program. This lack of new and softer systemic chemistry, especially those with an integrated pest management (IPM) fit has impacted on vegetable production and resulted in a reliance on minor use permit applications to gain access to alternative chemistry. “Movento® – Lettuce (western flower thrips), rhubarb, bulb vegetable crop group and herbs” was identified based on industry requirements. Movento® 240 SC Insecticide (active ingredient spirotetramat) is an innovative insecticide for the control of sucking pests in a range of vegetable and fruiting tree crops.