Dow AgroSciences says it will demonstrate a herbicide with a new active herbicide across Canada this summer. Arylex, for control of broadleaf weeds in wheat and barley, is the member of a new Group 4 chemical family called Arylpicolinates.
“This will be the first place it’s launched in the world,” said Kelly Bennett, a portfolio marketing leader for Dow AgroSciences Canada.
New active ingredients within herbicide classes don’t occur that often, Bennett said.
Linda Hall, a professor with the agricultural, life and environmental sciences faculty at the University of Alberta, agreed. “New active ingredients are relatively rare,” she said. Hall said Group 4 herbicides generally have a low selection rate for resistance. Low occurrences of resistance make the group’s mode of action important, Bennett said.
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Arylex came out of Dow’s “discovery pipeline” about six years ago, Bennett said, and since then they’ve been doing small-plot research trials.
Arylex was first formally announced to the public at the Barley to Beer event in Lacombe in March, but Bennett couldn’t say when the new herbicides will hit the market. “We submitted for registration in September 2012 and normal review timelines are 18-24 months.” They’ll be starting with two broadleaf weed control products for wheat and barley.
Bennett said Arylex will have a low dose rate of five to 10 grams per hectare, and will be effective under a wide range of climatic conditions. He said it can be used to create broadleaf weed-control solutions by combining it with other ingredients.
“From a chemistry standpoint it’s very flexible in terms of working with other active ingredients so that allows us to use it as a building block,” Bennett said.
While not familiar with Arylex itself, Hall said a product with high activity and a low dose rate is a positive thing. “The lower the amount of herbicide going into the environment the better,” she said.
