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‘Soybean rust appears in the USA.’ In 2004, this brief headline threw the global soybean market into turmoil. Soybean rust is a fungus that within just a week turns healthy green plants into rusty-red, burnt-looking stalks. And this is a threat that can appear anywhere in the world. Nativo™ is how we fight back. Nativo™ is our blockbuster brand family which helps farmers control soybean rust and many other fungal diseases – not only in soybeans but in close to 100 different crop plants. Nativo™ is a highly effective all-in-one solution for farmers who prefer the convenience of a broad-spectrum fungicide. Crops pretreated with Nativo™ have increased plant health effects like stress tolerance to drought, heat and frost as well as yield increase, more uniform ripening and improved harvestability.

Cereal farmers know all about the losses caused by fungal diseases such as fusarium, septoria and rust – to name just a few. Prosaro™ is a foliar fungicide which helps farmers fighting to keep their crops safe from fungal disease to increase their harvest in quantity and quality. Prosaro™ deals effectively with cereal leaf diseases and reduces levels of mycotoxins, providing all-around control and curative activity which adds value beyond the yield.

Cereal farmers fear a particular mix of colors on the leaves of their crops: a lot of yellow and brown, here and there a bit of green. The yellowish-brown discoloration is a sign of fungal infection, and could be the effect of leaf blotch (septoria tritici), which severely weakens plants and reduces yields. Xpro™ is a foliar fungicide with exactly the right combination and ratio of active ingredients to control septoria tritici in cereals. It’s a unique combination of two best-in-class greening fungicides with an impressive leafshield formulation system. Xpro™ technology doesn’t just ensure clean crops for longer, it stimulates crops to work harder and build more yield.

A wide range of plant diseases jeopardizes the quality of apples, grapes, peaches, berries, onions, and cucumbers, impacting the business of fruit and vegetable growers, international trading companies and fresh produce retailers. Luna combats many of these diseases, among them powdery mildew, botrytis, sclerotinia, and monilinia – to name but a few. But the broad spectrum fungicide offers more than efficient control of important problem diseases. Luna improves the quality of the produce, increases the yield and has remarkable additional effects, such as enhancing the storability of the harvested produce, extending its shelf-life, and reducing post-harvest losses. Luna helps growers to meet food chain needs and increases the marketability of their crops. And last but not least: The consumer benefits from a large variety of high quality fresh produce.

Sonata™ fungicide is based on a patented strain of the beneficial bacterial species Bacillus pumilus QST 2808 which has been shown to control plant pathogens and induce resistance in plants. Its unique mode of action targeting the fungal cell wall has been tested in many efficacy field trials. The result: in high value fruits and vegetables, Sonata™ provided excellent management of powdery and downy mildew as well as rust diseases. Bayer CropScience offers Sonata™ as part of integrated spray plans together with chemicals because this biological can also help increase yield and quality of the harvested product. Sonata™ can be used in a wide range of specialty fruit and vegetable crops such as artichokes, brassicas, cucurbits and grapes, as well as row crops.

Serenade™ is based on the bacterial strain Bacillus subtilis QST 713. The Serenade™ product attacks fungal cells and certain bacterial infection pathogens. The effect it has on the pests is far from gentle: the bacteria's lipopeptides punch holes in the cell membranes, causing the cells to collapse and killing the pathogen. Additionally, Serenade™ makes plants more robust, promotes their growth and thus also increases yields. In the soil, the beneficial bacteria in Serenade™, provided at optimized levels, colonize the roots of the plant, providing a “living” barrier of protection as the plant grows, thus continually protecting it against soil diseases whilst promoting growth. 

Sivanto™ is a novel insecticide for the control of major sucking pests like aphids, whiteflies, and other key insects including larval and adult live stages. Sivanto™ has a high safety standard and is non-hazardous to bumble bees and honey bees. This new systemic insecticide is based on the active ingredient flupyradifurone which belongs to Bayer CropScience´s own chemical class of butenolides. The fast activity of Sivanto™ ensures quick feeding cessation and effective control of insects acting as virus vectors. It provides high flexibility, being applicable as a foliar spray, drench or drip irrigation via the soil, and can also be used for seed treatment. It is also highly flexible in application timing even for treatments during flowering, providing crop safety at all crop stages. Due to its selectivity to beneficials in fruit and outdoor grown vegetable crops, Sivanto™ can be used in Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programs.

Potato farmers dread the signs of the virus Y. Noticeable ringspots on the skin and sunken flesh indicate that the virus has struck, and infected potatoes can no longer be used as seed potatoes. Farmers can prevent infection by controlling the aphids which carry the virus - for example, by using Confidor™. Confidor™ is the best-in-class insecticide for combating biting and sucking insect pests in more than 150 crops including vegetables, fruit, soybeans, cotton, potatoes and rice. Treatment with Confidor™ strengthens the plants so that they cope effectively with environmental stresses such as drought, lack of oxygen, ozone or salinization. This is what we call the 'Stress shield' effect. And the low dose rates and innovative chemistry of Confidor™ make it one of the safest insecticides available.

Over a quarter of a billion US dollars - that's how much the appetite of cotton bollworm caterpillars costs farmers in the United States every year. They can strip entire fields bare in just a short time, destroying fruits and vegetables, tea and cotton plants. Cotton farmers need to control such Lepidoptera. Belt™ is our insecticide that gives farmers maximum power against these voracious pests across the maximum number of crops. It controls them in an unusual way: the active ingredient in Belt™ docks onto a molecule involved in contracting the muscles. The insects are paralyzed and soon die. Belt™ sets new standards in Lepidoptera control. The plants that previously suffered from their activity are now able to flourish - a total of 170 crop plants, including vegetables, cotton, rice, soybean, fruits and broad acre crops.

Sucking insect pests are cunning and hard to find. They don't just sit in one place, but hide cleverly all over grapes, citrus fruits and vegetables and so elude some insecticides. But Movento™ can track them down. It's a revolutionary insecticide which moves both upward and downward within plant tissue to find and control hidden pests wherever they live and feed. Movento™ offers broad-spectrum control of many sucking pests and it's an important addition to pest management programs in grapes, citrus, vegetables, tree fruits and potatoes. And many beneficial insects are unaffected by Movento™, which means they can join with the farmer in controlling the insects which harm crops.

Requiem™ is a biochemical product based on the extracts of the Chenopodium ambrosioides plant which is highly effective for the control of sucking insect pests. These constituents have three different mechanisms of action which make life difficult for insects. First, Requiem™ breaks down the insects' exoskeletons. Secondly, it inhibits their respiration, causing them to suffocate. Thirdly, it prevents pests from being able to localize their sources of food. Crops therefore no longer fall victim to their hunger. But this triple action not only potentiates the product's effects; it also prevents resistance from developing. Requiem™ is effective against whiteflies, aphids, mites, thrips and other sucking pests, leaf hoppers, leaf miners and psyllids in high-value fruits and vegetables.

BioAct™ is based on a strain of the filamentous fungus Paecilomy-ces lilacinus (PL 251), the parasitic spores of which preferentially colonize roundworms (nematodes). Beneficial (entomopathogenic) nematodes are not affected. Bayer CropScience takes advantage of this preference to combat nematodes in the soil that threaten crops in some regions. BioAct™ is a nematicide that also takes effect while the roundworms are still in the egg stage. BioAct™ can be used in fruit, vegetables, vines, citrus fruits and nuts as a stand-alone product or in an integrated pest management program.