FMC Corporation officials introducing Lucento™ fungicide, a new tool that provides long-lasting preventive and curative activity for a wide range of foliar diseases and reduces dependence on strobilurns, for the 2019 growing season. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has granted registration for Lucento fungicide in corn, soybeans, peanuts, sugarbeets and wheat.
Lucento fungicide encompasses two separate modes of action (flutriafol, FRAC Group 3, and bixafen, FRAC Group 7) to deliver broad-spectrum disease efficacy, fungicide resistance management, plant mobility and long-lasting residual control. Lucento fungicide, officials say, is the only proven tank-mix of SDHI bixafen and FMC-patented flutriafol active ingredients (AI), offering novel disease control not previously available to U.S. row crop growers.
“Lucento fungicide provides superior control especially under heavy disease pressure, which can be attributed to its good mobility in the plant. A highly systemic fungicide, it harnesses both acropetal and translaminar movement providing uniform leaf distribution and disease protection,” stated Nick Hustedde, technical sales representative for FMC. “Ultimately, this pairing of bixafen and flutriafol delivers excellent prevention in the newer plant growth where the disease could spread.”
Additionally, Lucento fungicide is very active on diseases that have developed resistance to strobilurins, like late leaf spot in peanuts and frogeye leaf spot in soybeans.
“With Lucento fungicide, growers are able to rely less on strobilurins and stem future resistance risk. We’re seeing dual mode of action fungicides consisting of a strobilurin and another AI failing to control disease because the only effective piece in the product is the non-strobilurin component,” said Brent Jacobson, product development manager, fungicides for FMC. “Strobilurin resistance is growing, both in relevance and geography, and growers need new tools to counter this challenge and protect yield potential during the critical grain and pod fill stages.”
Lucento fungicide controls a wide spectrum of diseases in corn, soybeans, peanuts, sugarbeets and wheat, including: gray leaf spot, white mold, leaf spot, frogeye leaf spot, Southern corn rust, septoria brown spot, common corn rust, cercospora leaf blight, Northern corn leaf blight, Southern corn leaf blight and others.