By: Josh Mosiondz, Minor Use Coordinator, OMAFA & Erica Pate, Fruit Crop Specialist, OMAFA
Published November 2024
As the field season comes to an end it is a good time to reflect on the challenges growers faced and identify any potential solutions for future seasons. Specifically, any potential pesticide gaps that need to be addressed. Identifying these issues is an important part of the minor use process and registering products for Canadian growers.
Every year the horticulture and ornamental industries across Canada come together at the national Pest Management Priority Setting Workshop held in March. Attendees join from across the country, and include researchers, crop specialists, consultants, registrants, growers, grower organisations, provincial minor use coordinators (PMUCs), PMRA staff, and PMC (Pest Management Centre) staff.
At these priority setting workshops entomology, pathology, and weed science priorities are identified from the horticultural and ornamental crop industries. Top national priorities guide Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Pest Management Centre’s field research program for the following year, which will support minor use label expansion submissions. At the 2024 priority setting workshop 23 projects were identified. Ideally, these projects will result in a complete submission to PMRA by 2029, with decisions from PMRA expected 1-2 years following submission. Although long, this is an important process to address pest management challenges faced by the horticulture and ornamental industries. In recent years, the berry industry has been fortunate in identifying multiple projects which are moving forward through the minor use process:
| Year Selected | Crop | Pest(s) | Product Solution | Active ingredient solution | Registrant |
| 2024 | Raspberry | Fruit rots | Adavelt | florylpicoxamid | Corteva |
| Greenhouse Strawberry | Powdery mildew | Fontelis | penthiopyrad | Corteva | |
| Highbush Blueberry | Horsetail | Authority Supreme | pyroxasulfone + sulfentrazone | FMC | |
| Highbush Blueberry | Aphids | Plenexos | spidoxamat | Bayer | |
| Cranberry | Fruit rots | Cyclone Plus | citric acid +lactic acid | AEF Global | |
| 2023 | Haskap | Powdery mildew | Gatten | flutianil | OAT Agrio. Co. Ltd. |
| Strawberry | Neopestalotiopsis fruit rot | Allegro | fluazinam | ISK Biosciences | |
| Greenhouse Strawberry | Powdery mildew | Property | pyriofenone | ISK Biosciences | |
| Greenhouse Caneberry | Cane botrytis | Fontelis | penthiopyrad | Corteva | |
| Raspberry | Broadleaf weeds | Lontrel | clopyralid | Corteva | |
| Cranberry | Weeds | Elevore | halauxifen | Corteva | |
| Strawberry | Grassy weeds | Arrow | clethodim | ADAMA | |
| 2022 | Raspberry | Strawberry bud weevil | Cormoran | acetamiprid +novaluron | ADAMA |
| Greenhouse Strawberry | Powdery mildew | Palladium | cyprodonil +fludioxonil | Syngenta | |
| Saskatoon Berry | Plant growth regulator | Apogee | prohexadione calcium | BASF | |
| 2021 | Raspberry | Nematodes | Salibro | fluazaindolizine | Corteva |
| Greenhouse Strawberry | Powdery mildew | Gatten | flutianil | OAT Agrio. Co. Ltd. | |
| Haskap | Grubs | Verimark | cyantraniliprole | FMC | |
| Greenhouse Strawberry | Thrips | Delegate | spinetoram | Corteva | |
| Raspberry | Weeds | Tergeo | tiafenacil | ISK Biosciences | |
| Highbush Blueberry | Weeds | Tergeo | tiafenacil | ISK Biosciences | |
| Haskap | Weeds | Assure II | Quizalofop-p-ethyl | AMVAC |
Ontario berry growers will be identifying pest priorities for the 2025 Priority Setting Workshop on November 27th in a virtual meeting. Berry growers are encouraged to participate in these meetings with our Provincial Minor Use Coordinator Josh Mosiondz to help rank priorities, which will be used to identify potential projects. Please contact Erica Pate (erica.pate@ontario.ca) or Victoria Buma (victorialeastman@gmail.com) if you are interested in joining these meetings or have comments on challenging pests that have limited control options.