DuPont recently received registration approval from the Environmental Protection Agency for DuPont Lumisena fungicide seed treatment, the newest member of the DuPont seed applied technology portfolio. Lumisena fungicide seed treatment improves crop establishment and stand uniformity by controlling phytophthora in soybeans and downy mildew in sunflower crops.

“With Lumisena fungicide seed treatment, growers have a new, highly effective choice for protecting their seed investment against these diseases,” said Mick Messman, director, DuPont Seed Treatment Enterprise. “Lumisena fungicide seed treatment is the most advanced seed applied technology to control Phytophthora in soybeans since the introductions of mefenoxam and metalaxyl — both first registered in 1979.

“The true benefit in using Lumisena fungicide seed treatment is in how it works,” said Messman. “Oxathiapiprolin, the active ingredient, controls pathogens during multiple stages of their life cycle. The result is healthier plants that emerge quickly and develop strong root masses.”

In DuPont research trials, soybean seed protected with Lumisena fungicide seed treatment, which has a favorable environmental profile, had 32 percent less Phytophthora sojae incidence than untreated seed. Additionally, university research trials showed soybeans treated with the active ingredient in Lumisena fungicide seed treatment provided outstanding protection against Phytophthora compared with conventional seed treatment fungicides.

For sunflowers, DuPont trials showed seed treated with Lumisena fungicide seed treatment had 76 to 96 percent less downy mildew compared to untreated seed and 20 to 41 percent less downy mildew compared to conventional fungicide seed treatments. Likewise, university trials showed sunflower seed treated with the active ingredient in Lumisena fungicide seed treatment produced plants with significantly less downy mildew versus existing fungicide seed treatments.

Lumisena fungicide seed treatment has a favorable environmental profile, given its ability to deliver highly effective pathogen control at extremely low use rates. DuPont Pioneer will have wide-scale demonstration plots of Lumisena fungicide seed treatment during the 2017 growing season, and it will be commercially available in 2018 on Pioneer brand seed.