A valuable new tool in nematode management has arrived in Australia with the highly anticipated release of Velum Prime by Bayer, a fast-acting, long-lasting nematicide that provides targeted control of plant-parasitic nematodes while maintaining soil health.

Velum Prime offers growers a new mode of action to combat nematodes, with extensive field trials across five Australian states which have demonstrated its effectiveness at safeguarding root and tuber vegetables including carrots, potatoes and sweet potatoes.

Bayer horticulture territory business manager Darren Alexander said Velum Prime’s been a long time coming to Australia.

“We already had registration in the US and UK and the local trials have been incredibly positive,” he says. 

Velum Prime’s active ingredient fluopyram works by inhibiting complex II within the mitochondrial respiration chain in nematode cells, resulting in mortality.

“It is a different mode of action. There is no other registered nematicide working on the complex II mitochondria, so we're coming at the pest from a different angle,” Darren explains.

“When nematodes come into contact with fluopyram they aren’t able to move on to the next stage of respiration, become paralysed and then subsequently die.”

Classified as a Group N-3 nematicide and Group 7 fungicide, Velum Prime doesn’t require specialist application equipment and can be applied as a broadcast spray, via trickle irrigation or directly in the furrow at planting.

Bayer Crop Science horticulture national sales manager Damien Odgers said it was designed to be applied in soil and to target the juvenile stages of the nematode species prior to and at feeding on root tissue of a host plant.

“Velum Prime is what we consider a new generation nematicide. This is important, because historically, growers in root and tuber vegetable crops have been using a range of other crop protection products, namely harsh organophosphate chemistries to control nematodes,” he adds.

“These products aren't selective to just plant-parasitic nematode species, but also impact a range of beneficial microflora in soils.

“They've also had access to other tools such as soil fumigants, which are indiscriminate in the way they work.

“Now they have a product that is much more selective to the parasitic nematode target and it’s working in a different manner, by way of a new mode of action. From a nematode resistance management point of view, Velum Prime delivers a new tool to use in rotation with other products.”

Darren says Velum Prime is also highly residual.

“It works by sitting in the soil, adhering to organic matter and soil particles, providing long-lasting protection of root tissue as it's growing through the soil,” he says.

Velum Prime was registered for use in August 2024, with strong demand from growers and agronomists who were ready and waiting to incorporate it into their nematode management systems, on the back of extensive field trials across Tasmania, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia.

“Bayer has always been a company which prides itself in Australia on doing a lot of local work to demonstrate product performance in local conditions and Velum Prime was no different,” Damien says.

“Past the development phase, there was also a series of large-scale field demonstration trials conducted, mainly with sweet potato, carrot and potato,” he says.

“Along the way we learnt a lot about the length of residual control of the product and the superior performance over standard products used by growers.”

A benefit of the superior performance is Velum Prime’s cost effectiveness for growers, compared to competitor products on the market.

“During the development phase in those commercial demonstration trials, we measured the marketable yield improvements as a result of using Velum Prime in moderate to high-pressure nematode locations,” he says.

“Trials showed marketable yield benefits ranging between five and 20 per cent against competitor products across the three main crops of sweet potato, potato and carrot.

“We were able to quantify the return on investment for the grower and I think that’s really important.”

Darren says the beauty of working with vertically integrated growers is they can follow crop quality right through to the packing shed and obtain an analysed report to measure quality improvements they might've had from using Velum Prime.

“In many cases, it’s worked favourably for them, and they have implemented Velum Prime into their 2024–25 cropping season as a result.”

Velum Prime forms part of Bayer’s Roots2Success offering, supporting growers from the ground up with a holistic approach to improving root and soil health.

“Root2Success is Bayer's global integrated solutions initiative, focused on enhancing root and soil health for growers,” Darren says.

“In Australia, we're now offering growers a combination of three products from the Root2Success program: Emesto Prime, Serenade Soil Activ and Velum Prime.”

Emesto Prime is a Group 7 Rhizoctonia fungicide and Serenade Soil Activ is a root-colonising bacteria which helps plants access soil resources, including improving water and nutrient absorption to support a healthier plant.

“Now we’re bringing in a third product, Velum Prime, which is compatible, so we're looking at a great offering between three products which can really improve growers’ crops,” Darren says.

Damien says given its selectivity, Velum Prime is a very complementary tool to the regenerative approach to growing food.
And he adds growers are looking for complementary products to enhance, rather than antagonise, that system.

“This is a great example of a product that allows them to target parasitic nematode populations without upsetting the balance of beneficial microflora that they're building in their soils,” he says.

Potato growers looking to improve their nematode management strategies are also encouraged to access Predicta Pt testing, a DNA-based soil and peel testing service developed by the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI).

The testing is helping growers identify soilborne pathogens and pests including nematodes and featured prominently during field testing of Velum Prime.

“It's a very useful step if you're going into ground and you don't know what might be there,” Darren says.

“Doing a Predicta Pt test will give you a range of what diseases and nematodes you could be up against, and it will also give a rating of low, medium or high risk.

“If the test shows you’re going into an area where nematodes are a problem, then a tool like Velum Prime is definitely going to assist you.”

For further information on Velum Prime and its effectiveness in trials across the country, growers can contact their local Bayer representative.