A new fungicide technology is changing how farmers protect corn from disease…starting from the seed furrow.
Xyway LFR is a systemic triazole fungicide designed to move through the corn plant as it grows. After being applied in-furrow at planting, the product is taken up by the roots and moves upward through the plant’s vascular system, traveling with water in the xylem to reach developing leaves.
Most fungicides talk about systemic activity, but they’re primarily locally systemic. So they’ll move from cell to cell. But they don’t generally move up through the plant.” According to Gail Stratman, Regional Technical Manager of FMC.
“Basically the idea behind this is, is like putting something in the human bloodstream. The way I always describe it is, you could take a Tylenol pill and put that on your arm and leave it there for 4 to 6 hours. Somebody could probably take a blood test and later and find acetaminophen in your bloodstream. But that’s not how we take Tylenol. Well, that’s kind of the same way. Put it down where the plant can pick it up and let the plant distribute it up, and it will distribute it up anyplace water goes in the plant. And any time water is being pulled up in the plant, it’s pulling up Xyway.”
That systemic movement is what makes Xyway different from traditional foliar fungicides, which typically must be sprayed later in the season and only protect leaves they directly contact.
Stratman says, “This one has a long, persistence. So it gives you long residual activity. So not only do we get the maximum in distribution by letting the plant do it, but then we get long season control.”
By starting protection early, Xyway helps guard corn against major yield-robbing diseases like Tar Spot and Gray Leaf Spot.
Stratman concludes, “It offers a tremendous amount of protection from early in the season because you never quite know the exact time that foliar fungicide needs to be put on. Or when you do that, is that foliar fungicide going to last long enough? Xyway really sets that up because it takes a lot of that early season guesswork out.”
Developed by FMC Corporation, the technology aims to provide season-long disease suppression while giving growers more flexibility during the busy growing season.
