New Zealand’s Environmental Protection Authority has approved a new fungicide seed treatment for potatoes, clearing a key regulatory step for the introduction of Syngenta Crop Protection’s Vibrance Premium to the local market.

The approval allows the product to be used on seed tubers prior to planting, targeting a range of soil-borne and storage diseases. According to the regulatory decision, Vibrance Premium is designed to control black scurf, silver scurf, black dot, fusarium dry rot and gangrene, while also suppressing common scab.

The formulation combines two active ingredients: sedaxane, which is new to New Zealand, and fludioxonil, already approved in the country for use in other products targeting rhizoctonia and silver scurf. The combination is intended to broaden the spectrum of disease control compared with existing treatments.

Syngenta stated that integrating the two active ingredients into a single formulation enables more effective control of “a broader spectrum of soil-borne, seed-borne, and storage disease in potatoes.”

The EPA confirmed that it conducted human health and environmental risk assessments as part of the approval process, concluding that the risks associated with the product are low and manageable under prescribed controls. The fungicide will be restricted to handling by professional operators.

EPA chief executive Allan Freeth said the product was approved following a “rigorous evidence-based assessment.”

While the EPA approval marks a significant step, the product must still receive clearance from New Zealand’s Ministry for Primary Industries before it can be commercially used.

Vibrance Premium has already been approved in other markets, including Australia and parts of Europe, indicating an established regulatory track record internationally.

Industry response suggests cautious optimism. Pukekawa-based grower Chris Nicholson told Farmers Weekly that the process of bringing new crop protection products to market is lengthy, adding that “it’s always a good thing when growers have new options.” He also warned that responsible use remains critical, noting that avoiding overuse is key to preventing resistance and ensuring long-term product viability.

The approval comes as growers globally continue to seek more effective tools to manage increasingly complex disease pressures in potato production.