Syngenta expands Incipio emergency use in Florida strawberries

By Daniel Okafor

As of 04 November 2026, Florida strawberry growers can apply Syngenta’s Incipio insecticide against chilli thrips under a new emergency exemption. The time-limited approval gives growers access to the chemistry this season while Syngenta continues the broader registration process.

An emergency exemption allows a product to be used on a crop before standard registration for that specific use is final. Incipio’s approval therefore opens a legal spray option now rather than completing the full authorisation process. It also gives growers a new rotation choice as resistance builds against older insecticide classes.

What can strawberry growers do this season?

Chilli thrips have become a fast-spreading threat in berry crops, feeding on new growth and developing fruit, scarring berries and reducing their marketability. The pest has become a growing concern in Florida and elsewhere in the southeastern United States over recent seasons.

The exemption supplies an option for growers facing chilli thrips without an adequate registered control. That matters now, but the time-limited permission does not complete Incipio’s broader registration for strawberries.

How does Group 30 fit resistance management?

Syngenta brought the underlying isocycloseram technology to market over the past year and sells the active ingredient as Zivalgo in citrus and Incipio in strawberries. The company classifies the chemistry as Group 30 mode of action, a classification used to plan rotations among insecticide classes.

It describes that class as the first new one introduced for resistant-pest control in nearly four decades. That company description matters because growers need additional rotation options as resistance builds against older insecticide classes.

Can Zivalgo reduce the number of grove treatments?

Zivalgo targets four pest groups that Florida citrus growers traditionally manage with multiple products across a season:

• Asian citrus psyllids
• Leafminers
• Mites
• Thrips

Geoff Roe, whose family operates the fresh citrus producer Noble Ag in Florida, reported a spring result. He said: "A single spring application of Zivalgo controlled rust mites effectively enough that he avoided the reactive spraying he would otherwise have needed."

He added that Zivalgo could replace three to four separate active ingredients in one pass through the grove. For citrus growers, that combination of pest coverage and potential input reduction changes the comparison between keeping several products and adding another programme.

What do rising input prices mean for growers?

The wider rollout of Incipio and Zivalgo comes as Florida growers absorb cost pressure across their input budgets. Jeff Cecil, regional director of North American crop protection at Syngenta, said tariffs and elevated fuel prices are pushing up costs for Syngenta and other agricultural chemical manufacturers.

Cecil expects "input price inflation to persist rather than ease in the near term." Roe’s three-to-four-input claim gives Zivalgo a clear cost angle, particularly when citrus growers already face higher chemical and fuel bills.

However, the available information gives no product price per hectare, application rate or seasonal spray-programme cost. Growers still need local supplier quotes and label instructions before changing budgets or replacing existing treatments.

What is Syngenta’s wider registration strategy?

Syngenta positions Plinazolin as a long-term investment in specialty crop pest control. The company argues that one active ingredient under different formulations and brand names simplifies supply chains and stewardship training (product-use training that supports resistance management), while addressing pests across citrus, berries and other high-value crops.

One mode of action registered across several crop-and-pest combinations also widens the rotation base. That consideration has become more important as fewer genuinely new insecticide chemistries reached commercialisation over the past decade.

Syngenta has continued expanding the crops and pests covered by the platform’s various registrations since its introduction. At an agricultural trade media summit in Orlando in October, company representatives Scott Johnson and Zach Langford took part in grower discussions about Plinazolin.

What should growers watch next?

Growers and distributors are watching for further emergency and standard registrations ahead of next season. Strawberry growers should confirm the exemption’s conditions before spraying, then compare any broader registration with existing resistance-management plans and quoted input costs.

The key distinction is simple: Incipio’s strawberry use is available now through an emergency exemption, while its broader registration remains in progress. Zivalgo’s three-to-four-input substitution claim comes from Geoff Roe’s spring experience at Noble Ag.

The next checkpoints are further emergency and standard registrations ahead of next season, alongside local supplier pricing and pest performance in Florida.