Voliam label expansion

The California Department of Pesticide Regulation has approved a label expansion for Voliam Xpress insectide, which allows its use on pome and stone fruits, and other crops. Voliam, developed by Syngenta Crop Protection, contains two active ingredients with different modes of action: the diamide insecticide chlorantraniliprole and the pyrethroid lambda-cyhalothrin. The product is designed to control chewing and sucking pests, such as beetles, plant bugs, stink bugs, and leafhoppers, as well as ­lepidopteran pests. For more information, check the Web site at www.syngenta.com.

Biopesticides

Natural Forces has introduced three new biopesticides, Bugitol, Nemitol, and Dazitol, which contain essential oil of mustard and capsaicin, which is derived from peppers. The products are categorized as Generally Recognized As Safe and are approved by the Washington State Department of Agriculture for use in organic farming and gardening for control of insects, mites, snails, slugs, and airborne fungi. For more information, check the Web site at www.naturalforcesllc.com.

Tracking service

Purfresh has updated its informatics service Intellipur, which is used for tracing fresh produce during shipping, including ocean transportation. Users can link produce lot numbers with booking, trip, and container details, making it possible to find out where produce traveled during the voyage and how it was treated inside the container. It ­provides real-time monitoring of a container during the entire voyage and automatic notifications of events such as power off, door open, and communication failures.

The Intellipur service is available on a subscription basis. For information, check the Web site at www.intellipur.com.

Greefa partners with Colors

Colors Fruit, one of the largest fruit exporters in South Africa, has formed a partnership with Greefa Europe, a designer and manufacturer of fruit sorting machines. The two companies will work together to upgrade the South African fruit industry with the latest packing technologies.

Colors Fruit owns seven packing houses, including Novo Pack in Paarl, Western Cape, which was devastated by fire a year ago and is being rebuilt with technology that is more efficient and environmentally sustainable. Equipment will include the iQSIII intelligent quality sorter, which sorts fruit according to external quality by using infrared and color cameras and advanced software for analysis, and the iFA intelligent flavor analyzer, which determines the internal quality of the fruit by analysis with near-infrared light. The entire fruit is screened for Brix value, internal browning, and core rot.

Colors will have preferential access to future sorting technology that Greefa develops. For more information about the companies, check the Web sites at www.colorsfruit.com or www.greefa.com.

Fast-acting pesticide

Gowan Company’s Scorpion insecticide has received registration from the U.S. ­Environmental Protection Agency for broad-spectrum insect control in grapes and other crops.

Scorpion (dinotefuran) is a neoniciotinoid pesticide designed to control whiteflies, mealybugs, thrips, leafhoppers, plant bugs, stinkbugs, leafminers and other pests. It reduces the risk of insects vectoring plant diseases.It is classified as a reduced-risk pesticide by the EPA and is highly soluble in water, allowing for rapid uptake and systemic movement through the plant. It requires no agitation after mixing and is unlikely to plug emitters when applied through drip. Scorpion is unusual in its speed of uptake, according to Gowan. Insects stop feeding almost ­immediately.

For more information, check the Web site www.gowanco.com.