BEYOND THIRAM: New Fungicide Efficacy Testing, Fungicide Resistance Monitoring, and Germplasm Disease Phenotyping

As regulatory uncertainty surrounds the future registration of the widely used fungicide Thiram, crop production in Florida and throughout the Southeastern U.S. faces a critical need for alternative disease management tools. Nowhere is this need greater than with strawberries, where Thiram is relied upon heavily for management of Neopestalotiopsis. Thiram has also been an important fungicide and resistance management component across many other Southeastern crops, including tomatoes, cucurbits, peppers, eggplant, and ornamentals—all of which require proactive research in light of this regulatory change.

Our integrated program emphasizes:

• Fungicide Alternatives: Rigorous field evaluation of registered and experimental chemistries exhibiting broad-spectrum activity against foliar and fruit pathogens across multiple specialty crops.
• Fungicide Resistance Testing: Monitoring of resistance in currently used chemistries through statewide field collections.
• Disease Resistance Screening: Advanced screening of germplasm for resilience under Florida’s unique subtropical pressures, including Botrytis cinerea, powdery mildew, and Neopestalotiopsis.

Leveraging over 45 years of plant pathology expertise, Florida Ag Research and the Ag Metrics Group companies combine proven field protocols with precise laboratory bioassays to deliver statistically validated efficacy data.

This ensures product developers can confidently assess performance, spectrum of activity, and potential integration into Florida’s commercial and export-driven systems.

We welcome inquiries from product developers interested in advancing next-generation disease management solutions across multiple Southeastern specialty crops.

Connect with our team: https://www.agmetricsgroup.com/contact.html?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=strawberryneopesta

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