Contact Organics Evaluation of FarmSafe for pre-harvest desiccation of potatoes

Key Takeaways:

• A field trial was conducted at Hawke’s Farm in Boneo, Mornington Peninsula to evaluate the efficacy of Contact Organics FarmSafe for pre-harvest desiccation of potatoes.
• 1:20 Spray mixture containing 5.0% FarmSafe Formulation, 2.5% FarmSafe Boost and 92.5% water was produced. Then 0.2% Wetting Agent and 0.4% Spray Oil was added.
• One foliar spray was applied with a spray backpack at an application volume of approx. 750L/Hectare.
• Potato plant appearance was assessed prior to spray application at 0 days after application (0DAA). Plant desiccation was assessed at 3DAA and 10DAA.
• Potatoes will be harvest 14 days after application. Feedback from Hawke’s Farm will be received re suitability and advantages of FarmSafe for potato desiccation.
• Key success criteria is efficient desiccation of potato plant over a two week’s period and hardening of potato skin. The latter is important to reduce spoilage during mechanical harvesting.
• Herbicides currently being used in a blend include Glyphosate, Dow AgroScience Starane (Fluoroxypyr), Syngenta Reglone (Diquat), BASF Hammer (Imidazolinone) and/or Syngenta Paraquot. Application rates are 500L/Hectare

Efficacy Testing

Example 1

Example 2

Potato Desiccation Results:

• Contact Organics FarmSafe delivered effective pre-harvest desiccation of potato plants.
• One foliar spray of 1:20 spray mixture at 750L/Hectare was sufficient to desiccate potato plants.
• Plant desiccation was well progressed at 3DAA and fully effective at 10DAA. This is much faster then conventional herbicides like Diquot/Starane blend and potentially offers production advantages to farmers.
• Feedback from Hawke’s Farm will be received re results of mechanical harvesting.
• Chemical residue testing of potatoes harvested will be conducted.
• Due to success of initial evaluation, Hawke’s Farm have committed to a large scale trial covering a full block of potatoes.
• This trial will allow us to fully evaluate and compare Contact Organics FarmSafe performance at various concentrations and application rates versus performance of standard, poisonous herbicides.

About Contact Organics

Contact Organics Pty Ltd is the first company in 40 years to develop a weed management product that is a genuine alternative to glyphosate. It is a commercially viable, non-toxic, non-resistance building, residue-free, highly effective control against most weeds.

The Company business model proves it can capture part of the US$24 billion herbicide market quickly and achieve exponential growth with minimal capital.

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