As potato planting gets into full swing across the country, a newly-approved duo of treatments is destined to put a smile on grower’s faces with boosted tuber yield as well as top quality skin finish.

For the first time this year the fungicide Amistar (azoxystrobin) has on-label recommendation for use on potatoes, and when jointly applied with the fertiliser additive FTC1 delivers around 12 per cent yield increase and highly effective control of black dot and rhizoctonia.

“Whilst these individual treatments give impressive performance on their own, we’ve shown they work even better together, with a synergistic action in plant nutrition and plant protection,” says Masstock group FTC1 product manager Peter Jones.

The science behind the successful mix lies in the increased photosynthetic effect that FTC1 can achieve when co-applied with Amistar. There is also a fungicidal boosting effect from the zinc in FTC1 added to the azoxystrobin of the Amistar.

Trials in 2004 on Estima showed total yield with Amistar and FTC1 was 12.7% greater than with Amistar on its own whilst marketable yield was up by 11.6%.

Amistar and FTC1 – the latter now in a new, convenient 5 litre per 5 hectare container – are applied as a tank mix at planting through a ‘Team’ applicator on the planter.

“Whilst a 10 or 12 per cent yield increase in the field is hard to see, what farmers really will notice is the skin finish,” says Mr Jones. “For the highest quality set skins on maincrop this Amistar/FTC1 duo seems unbeatable.”

Although not generally recommended for processing potatoes, the new mix does have a place in unirrigated or early processing crops to aid quality and yield. Exceptional results have been achieved with second early varieties and salad varieties such as Charlotte and Juliet.

“By adding Amistar to the proven yield-boosting FTC1, potato growers now get an even longer list of benefits. Earlier lifting in drier harvest conditions gives growers the option of locking into an earlier market or storing higher yields of quality tubers – either way gaining a higher price per tonne,” says Peter Jones.

Masstock Arable (UK) Ltd comprises the following businesses: Acorn Agronomy; Agrownomics; AgSouth; Alan Whittaker (CPS); BBW Cropcare; Cleanacres; Clive Utting; Cropchem; Dalgety; Faulkner & Partners; FSC Agronomy; Hall, Plank and Robinson; JB Agronomy; Jeff Beer Agronomy; Kenneth Wilson; Masstock Farm Consultancy; Medicrop; PCC Agronomy; Prince, Doyle & Jenkins; RM Jones; Ryehill Farmservice; Thistle Agronomy