Popular greenkeepers’ fungicide to be withdrawn

By Alistair October 30, 2017 11:34

The European Union has announced it will ban a fungicide that is used by a number of golf clubs.

All products in the UK that contain iprodione will be withdrawn from the market due to environmental protection concerns raised by the European Food Safety Authority.

In terms of golf, Chipco® Green and Interface®, sold by Bayer and used by many greenkeepers, both contain iprodione.

It also comes just a few months after the number of turf fungicide groups available to greenkeepers was increased for the first time in years to six, but it will now drop back to five.

Steve Bishop, Bayer professional product manager, said that the industry can expect an update in the coming weeks with regards to timescales for the sell-out and usage periods of these two products.

“We have a large regulatory team based in the UK who’ll keep the industry informed on all of the latest updates,” he said.

Earlier this year, Bayer launched Exteris™ Stressgard®, with the new turf SDHI fluopyram.

“Unfortunately the loss of iprodione will reduce the available turf fungicide groups back to five, meaning that rotation strategy remains a critical element of integrated disease management,” explained Steve.

“With other chemicals also due for assessment, a further reduction in the total number of products on the market, and therefore the number of available groups for rotation, for turf disease control is not out of the question.

“This is why we’re constantly investing into the research and development of new chemistry, to continue to deliver solutions to our customers well into the future.”

For further information on the withdrawal of iprodione and Bayer products, please contact the Turf Solutions Team on 00800 1214 9451 or email turfsolutions@bayer.com