Canadian potato growers have a new tool to reduce the damage caused by wireworm with new Titan (clothiandin). Available for the 2009 planting season, Titan is the only seed piece treatment registered for suppression of the damage caused by wireworm.

“Protecting potatoes from the moment the seed piece hits the ground gives growers a head start towards a more productive crop,” says David Kikkert, portfolio manager, horticulture with Bayer CropScience. “New Titan provides that protection, and piece of mind. And with our additional label submission, we expect to extend Titan’s reach to cover other key foliar pests in potatoes too.”

Wi reworm – the larval stage of click beetles – are becoming more evident in potato fields across Canada. Wireworm are attracted to carbon dioxide that’s given off as seed piece tubers begin decomposing. When wireworm ingest Titan, they stop feeding and in turn, developing daughter tubers are protected from wireworm damage that cause processing and table-quality issues and open the path for secondary diseases including blackleg and Rhizoctonia.

Titan has also been sub-mi tted for registration to control foliar pests including Colorado potato beetle, aphids (potato, green peach, foxglove and buckthorn), potato leafhopper and potato flea beetle.

Titan is a liquid formulation Group 4 from the chloronicotinyl class of chemistry.