For key herbicide and fungicide spray applications this spring, growers are being urged to consider their pesticide selection carefully in order to keep input costs to a minimum.

Making the right choice from the portfolio of agrochemical products available could provide farmers with an opportunity to reduce costs, as well as deliver the required level of efficacy in weed and disease control programmes over the next few weeks.

That’s the advice from global agrochemical manufacturer Rotam, which says that scrutinising product performance and cost must be considered as a priority this season.

Rotam’s regional manager for the UK and northern Europe, Graham Dickinson, said: “With the wheat price where it is at the moment, and farm inputs such as diesel and fertiliser starting to rise again, off-patent equivalents can provide tried and trusted chemistry at a price advantage compared with the original brand name products.

“It’s fair to say that savings can be substantial. The competition provided by off-patent producers has made a range of products and prices available to growers which could lead to savings of £10-30 per hectare, dependent on weed and disease pressure.”

Off-patent chemistries such as active ingredients metsulfuron and metsulfuron + thifensulfuron (Rotam’s broad-leaved weed herbicides Savvy and Ergon) have been used for far longer than many newer, patented products, so farmers understand how they work and trust them, believes Dickinson.

And with fewer new active ingredients coming onto the market because of the increasing costs of development, and as a result of legislation such as 91/414, high quality off-patent chemistry will be vital in providing farmers with the full spectrum of crop protection tools they need for the future, he suggests.

But there have been examples of poor quality, off-patent products put out on the market by some companies, he says. Rotam has invested millions of pounds in product registration for EU countries in recent years, independently delivering new formulations of the highest quality, targeted to specific crops, pests and application systems, explains Dickinson.

He added: “As always, growers should look carefully at the label and see who’s supplying the off-patent products. Check that it is from a reputable source and that it has got approval from the CRD (Chemicals Regulation Directorate).

“Farmers know and understand these chemistries, and therefore can calculate the costs versus the benefits of using them