Clearfield technology will be available in Ireland this year. The genetic technology allows volunteer oilseed rape and other cruciferous weeds to be controlled in oilseed rape crops.
Speaking at the recent Drummonds open day, Lizzie Matthews of Dekalb explained the technology to growers.
“Clearfield is a new genetic technology in the UK. It has been on the market for about four-to-five years now.”
How it works
The technology is used in conventional plant breeding and there are now a number of Clearfield varieties on the market.
Explaining how it works, Lizzie stated that the new varieties are resistant to imazamox – a sulphonylurea. This active ingredient is contained in the herbicide Cleranda, a product of BASF. Where this product is used on Clearfield varieties, volunteer plants can be controlled.
These plants are resistant to the chemical, so you go through the crop and you wipe out all of your cruciferous weeds and your volunteer oilseed rape plants.
Used in the UK
Lizzie went on to say that UK farmers did not buy into the new technology straight away.
“The UK farmers were quite skeptical of it at the start because they were worried about volunteers that might occur.
“They were a bit dubious of the system; but farmers who treated one or two problem fields are now putting their whole farm down to Clearfield and it might even be the case in the future that all of the UK market is sown with Clearfield technology.
We’ve sold out of every breed in Clearfield genetics each year. This year won’t be an exception; we’re looking at about one fifth of the UK market, which is about 120,000ha.
“It’s very popular with farmers. We have big estates that are taking a few different varieties,” she noted.