A massive 85% of the UK’s leading potato farmers recognise the potential benefits offered by Sluxx – the new slug pellet offering a genuine commercial alternative for arable, potato and outdoor salad and brassica markets. Research, carried out on behalf of crop protection firm Certis, involved interviews with over 500 potato growers, representing over 28,000 hectares of potatoes. “These are growers selected as the industry’s innovators and early adopters of new solutions they recognise as giving their businesses the edge,” says Certis’ Lucie Hulin. “That 85% were positive about the potential of Sluxx for their businesses was unprecedented according to our researchers’ experience,” she says. “But it was not entirely unexpected given the current restrictions on products containing both methiocarb and metaldehyde that now require growers and advisors to think carefully about their molluscicide strategy and work out how to optimise product use within their programmes,” She explains that Sluxx represents a new generation of molluscicide that performs on a par with both the other two active ingredients available whilst offering a particularly strong environmental profile, being derived from active ingredient components that occur naturally in soils which ultimately breakdown into plant nutrients. “It is a high quality pelleted bait that contains the active ingredient ferric phosphate,” adds Lucie. “And following its first year in the arable market we have confirmation from both farmer and agronomist feedback that Sluxx delivers in the field. “We have also conducted tests showing that pellets will withstand at least 25mm rainfall whilst still being lethal to slugs – an important consideration for potato growers currently treating in irrigated situations.” The launch of Sluxx has also been reportedly welcomed by packers due not only to the excellent fit of its environmental profile within supermarket protocols but also because of its flexiblility compared to alternatives. Sluxx has a total maximum dose rate of 28kg/ha with a maximum individual dose rate of 7kg/ha – and has no harvest interval. From the perspective of treating headlands adjacent to watercourses, while no pesticides should be applied to water unless specifically approved to do so, Sluxx has no advisory restriction to applications on headlands bordering watercourses. Lucie Hulin points out that it is important to note that unlike some other treatments where either dead slugs or mucous trails provide evidence of pellet consumption, this is generally not the case with Sluxx. “Once a slug consumes a pellet the immediate effect is that the slug quickly stops feeding and cannot recover. So if no pellets are visible it means they have been eaten and crop protection is therefore assured. Slugs then typically retreat underground where they die a few days later,” she adds. |