Sipcam: Launch of new specialty products for large crops in 2026
Adding to its complete range of herbicides for sugar beets, the company Sipcam introduces a new product: Menhir Api. This product combines metamitron and lenacil with an optimized formulation thanks to Api technology integrating bio-sourced co-formulants. “Menhir Api brings a gain of a few percentage points of efficiency in a weeding program on sugar beets compared to a traditional BTGV program,” says Jérôme Rouveure, marketing manager at Sipcam France. “The product shows a significant performance improvement especially on white pigweed, annual mercury, bird’s knotgrass, atriplex (orache),” he adds.
In sugar beets, the company will be able to officially launch the commercialization of its insecticide Illion, after its authorization in 2025. Already used in potatoes (seedlings), this biocontrol solution is based on paraffin oil which has the effect of “suffocating aphids on the surface of the foliage and limiting the spread of viruses,” as assured by Sipcam France. It is recommended to mix with the product Teppeki at a dose between 7.5 L and 10 L/ha (3.5 L/ha), or alone in organic sugar beet production.
The company is also launching the commercialization of an adjuvant for post-emergence herbicides, Hiraki. The product combines methyl ester of vegetable oil and ammonium sulfate in a concentrated formulation, “ensuring a much finer and more homogeneous emulsion than other adjuvants on the market and allowing very good spreading of herbicide drops on the foliage,” specifies Jérôme Rouveure. It is recommended at 0.65 L/ha.
Finally, the company has obtained the approval of the fungicide Cyrus (flutolanil) on potatoes to combat silver scab in addition to brown rhizoctonia, and is preparing to launch a new slug repellent (Vitrol GB Pro) for the autumn 2026 sowings.
Geves: Four potato and six sunflower varieties added to the official French catalog
Four new varieties of consumption potatoes have been proposed for inclusion in the French official catalog. Two of these, Fineline and Vindika, fall into the “firm flesh” category. The variety Dodge is labeled “agroecology conservation” due to its tolerance to late blight and is eligible for EU Plant Variety Rights (CEPP) to reduce the number of fungicide treatments. The variety Maud presents a double resistance to two species of cyst nematodes.
Six varieties of sunflowers are also included, three of which have a high oil content (oil+ qualification): an early linoleic variety (Virgile), and two oleic varieties (an early one, RGT Lisbon, and a semi-late one, MAS 835OL). The other varieties, oleic, are early (RGT Celtic) and semi-early (LID1083H and SY Javelo).
Syngenta: Fenpropidine-based fungicide approved for beets
Based on fenpropidine, the fungicide Meltop One has been approved for use on beets for the 2026 campaign. ITB trials show good results against cercospora leaf spot and rust when the product is combined with the specialty Timbal EW based on tetraconazole. Meltop One is approved at 0.5 L/ha with a single application per campaign at growth stage BBCH 39. It is recommended as the first fungicide application in a program to combat leaf diseases in beets. The product can also be mixed with Airone SC (copper) if a derogation for the latter is obtained. Meltop One is also authorized in cereals and recommended by Syngenta, especially as a first treatment on barley combined with Unix Max (cyprodinil).
