Active Ingredient Spotlight: ADEPIDYN Technology

Farmers are persistent, staying focused on tough tasks until they are finished. Planting as much as possible before a downpour. Customizing complex fungicide spray programs to protect high-value crops. Harvesting on processing plant schedules. Growers are constantly adapting to new challenges.

They deserve crop protection products that do the same.

Syngenta’s ADEPIDYN^® technology, containing active ingredient pydiflumetofen, mimics that tenacity when it comes to disease control.

“ADEPIDYN technology provides excellent disease control across a wide spectrum of crops and diseases,” says Katie Neufeld, fungicide technical product lead for Syngenta focusing on specialty and vegetable crops. “It’s amazing to have an active ingredient be so effective across so many different pathogens.”

She credits its development to a rigorous discovery process, during which Syngenta screens hundreds of thousands of potential new active ingredients.

“For fungicide development, our team tests potential active ingredients on 13 key pathogens,” she explains.

When they see significant activity, active ingredients move forward in the process. For the most promising options, chemical engineers optimize the molecular structure to improve activity against the intended disease targets. As new active ingredients progress from the lab to the greenhouse and eventually the field, Syngenta scientists become intimately familiar with how they work.

“ADEPIDYN technology is engineered so that each segment of the chemical structure helps it bond tightly to target enzymes in pathogens,” Neufeld says. “That gives it unique strength.”

Potency and Broad-Spectrum Activity

ADEPIDYN technology is a succinate-dehydrogenase inhibitor or SDHI fungicide, meaning it interrupts respiration in many disease-causing pathogens. It actively works against mycelial growth, the root-like structure of a fungus, by binding tightly to a common cellular process responsible for respiration.

“Because of the intrinsic activity, it only takes a small amount of the active ingredient to effectively control disease,” Neufeld says.

This characteristic makes ADEPIDYN technology a valuable tool to defend against pathogens in a wide range of crops. It protects peanuts from leaf spots, potatoes from early blight and white mold, almonds from brown rot and much, much more.

Persistence: Long-Lasting Control

Its molecular structure also causes ADEPDIYN technology to bind very tightly to the waxy layer within plant leaves. That bond allows ADEPIDYN technology to remain stable within the leaf for a longer period of time to protect crops against disease pressure for extended periods of time.

“For example, we have seen unprecedented control of leaf spots in peanuts that lasts up to 28 days,” Neufeld says. “That is notable in a crop that typically receives fungicide treatment in 14-day intervals.”

The ability to bind tightly to both plant leaves and pathogens gives farmers and agronomists more flexibility in planning spray programs for high-value crops.

ADEPIDYN technology powers Miravis^® brand fungicides from Syngenta:

• In addition to leaf spots in peanuts, Miravis fungicide protects against powdery mildew, Alternaria diseases and various rots in fruit trees.
• For tree nuts, Miravis Duo fungicide adds a curative treatment to the preventive action of ADEPIDYN technology.
• Miravis Prime fungicide defends against yield-robbing diseases in potatoes, vegetables, strawberries and more.

“Local Syngenta agronomic service representatives gladly help growers customize their fungicide spray programs to incorporate Miravis products,” Neufeld says. “Our team understands the flexibility of these fungicides, creating plans that ensure farmers benefit from the advantages of technology.”

In some cases, growers may even be able to reduce the number of passes in a spray program. Use of a Miravis product could also be scheduled prior to periods when other farm work or weather conditions make it tough to ensure timely application of the next fungicide spray.

ADEPIDYN technology sticks tightly to pathogens and plants, protecting against diseases with a tenacity growers can rely on.