California’s Department of Pesticide Regulation has granted Section 18 emergency exemption approval of Inspire fungicide from Syngenta for use on Alternaria in almond orchards Butte, Glenn, Kern and Tehama counties.

“Alternaria can devastate an almond orchard,” said James Adaskaveg, professor of plant pathology, University of California, Riverside. “California almond growers should be encouraged by this additional tool for controlling this damaging disease.”

Though recently introduced into this market in the United States in the summer of 2007, difenoconazole has been used extensively for more than two decades in 96 other countries on over 100 crops to help produce high quality crops and yields.

“Difenoconazole is one of the most powerful triazole fungicides available,” said David Laird, fungicide brand manager, Syngenta. “Applied at low use rates, Inspire has high preventive and curative activity.” It has translaminar movement and provides long residual control protecting leaf surfaces.