The natural plant growth regulator Berelex has a new Ministerially Approved Pesticide Product (MAPP number) and is recommended to improve the fruit set of pears and the yield of celery and rhubarb.

It also has a specific off-label approval (SOLA) in outdoor cherries and cherries under rain cover to reduce fruit drop between fruit set and harvest.

Dr David Stormonth, technical manager at Interfarm (UK) Ltd, said the product improves fruit set in pears when blossom is sparse, setting conditions are poor or frost has killed the majority of flowers.

Stormonth said that in rhubarb, Berelex is used in field crops to advance cropping and increase yield and in forced crops to reduce cold treatments requirements and to increase earliness and yield.

He said: “All that is happening is that crops are being given a naturally occurring product which they produce themselves anyway, but at a slightly earlier stage.

“In field crops of rhubarb it is applied at the first signs of growth and in forced crops on transfer to the forcing shed. Applied 3 weeks before the first intended harvest, in celery its use increases head size and yield.”

The new SOLA for Berelex is in outdoor cherries or cherries under temporary protective rain cover to control fruit drop or abscission in the period between fruit set and harvest. Growers need to obtain a copy of the notice of approval to use Berelex in cherries via the Chemicals Regulation Directorate (CRD) web site, ADAS offices, the Horticultural Development Company or the National Farmers’ Union.

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