Sugarbeet growers are set to benefit from an innovative weed control development by international market leaders SESVanderHave in the future.
SESVanderHave have developed an ALS-inhibiting herbicide tolerant gene through their R&D project and hope to provide growers with a new option for weed control.
The new herbicide tolerant varieties will give growers the opportunity to use broad-spectrum active ingredients to simplify weed control in sugarbeet, with lower dose rates and fewer applications than with current weed control systems.
SESVanderHave UK general manager Ian Munnery said the news was "exciting but would not have immediate effect."
Munnery said SESVanderHave were trying to look at the longer-term benefits of the development such as the cost effectiveness it would provide for growers.
He added: “There is an opportunity for growers to increase the cost efficiency of the crop.”
Munnery expects the Sugar Reform will have an impact on the development, and says it is "unknown" when the development will be available to UK growers.
However releases inform the "first varieties will be available to growers worldwide within a few years."
Source: www.farmersguardian.com