Bred specifically to be used in the CONVISO SMART weed control system for sugar beet, SMART JANNINKA KWS is the first variety to be added to the BBRO Recommended List following more than 20 years of research and development to provide the next step in weed control.
In addition, three further varieties have been added to the UK’s National List, SMART BREANNA KWS, SMART RIVETTA KWS and SMART SANYA KWS.
These varieties, while not yet added to the Recommended List, will offer growers a choice of varieties for drilling, potentially as early as spring 2020.
Offering their best performance when drilled from mid-March onwards the CONVISO SMART varieties represent the first choice for more convenient, more effective weed control in sugar beet.
SMART JANNINKA KWS has an adjusted yield of 90% of controls when grown under a herbicide regime based around classical products, however its performance increases by more than 5% when grown under the CONVISO SMART system.
“Effectively yielding at over 95% of controls, SMART JANNINKA KWS is close to the performance achieved by some of the established varieties on the 2020 Recommended List,” says Ben Bishop, KWS sugar beet UK country manager.
Ensuring growers have access to the expertise needed to support stewardship involved a detailed appraisal of the supply channels available and an assessment of each of the technical support offered. In addition, KWS intends to issue a growers’ manual to all CONVISO SMART growers to introduce them to the technology and the stewardship requirements.
“It is central to the CONVISO SMART system that the herbicide and seed are made available as a single package to support stewardship needs. Consequently, we have opted to work with partners offering a network of qualified advisers overseeing the whole rotation and which distribute both seed and herbicide across the crop area,” explains Mr Bishop.
Grower interest in CONVISO SMART is anticipated to be high and KWS is preparing to allocate about 10,000 units to the UK for the 2020 season.
“CONVISO SMART represents a compelling proposition and we have sufficient seed to meet anticipated demand. Growers can expect the price to reflect the benefits of the technology, but for the majority, we expect it to represent good value,” he adds.
KWS and Bayer intend to publish stewardship guidelines for the CONVISO SMART system ahead of the 2020 season.
