CARY, N.C. — Midas, a soil fumigant that’s widely viewed as a replacement for methyl bromide, has been taken another step forward as a majority of state regulators have approved it for use on various crops.<br>

“This is what you need to be able to get product to your customers,” said Mike Allan, global product manager for Midas, which is made by Arysta LifeScience of North America. “From our previous reports, Midas did very well in comparison to methyl bromide. The consistency that growers found with methyl bromide has been mimicked with Midas.”<br>

Researchers at the University of Georgia and other universities have found that Midas, the brand name for methyl iodide, effectively replaces methyl bromide, which has been phased out by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).<br>

The UGA research pitted three alternatives, including Midas, against methyl bromide and found Midas to be effective. The study also found the other products tried with methyl bromide, dimethyl disulfide (DMDS) and Telone II, were not as effective as replacements.<br>

These results were presented at the 2007 annual International Research Conference on Methyl Bromide Alternatives and Emissions Reductions, held last year in San Diego. The paper, titled Can Georgia Growers Replace Methyl Bromide? by A.S. Culpepper and several other researchers, reported the following results: “The number of pepper boxes produced from the Midas system was similar to the MB (methyl bromide) system, with the one exception of less choice fruit produced for cumulative harvests at location two. At this same location, the Midas system produced 12 percent more jumbo fruit than MB and, although this difference was not significant, it may have caused the production of less choice fruit.<br>

“When comparing the total number of jumbo, extra large, large and choice fruit produced among these two systems, the number of pepper boxes produced in the Midas system was 97 percent of that in the MB system.”<br>

Allan said these results are the same as what the manufacturer has found in its experimental use permit studies. The company was granted the permit in 2006 to determine Midas’ effectiveness as a replacement for methyl bromide. The permit was for limited use of methyl iodide on 1,000 total acres in Florida, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.
Last October the EPA granted a one-year registration for methyl iodide “under highly restrictive provisions governing its use,” according to an EPA fact sheet. The registration was controversial to environmentalists and a number of scientists who believe methyl iodide isn’t safe.<br>

According to Allan, the time-limited registration is just a “paper process” on the part of the EPA, and “not a reanalysis of the data” regarding the chemical’s safety. California was not one of the states to approve commercial use of Midas. California can take six months to a year to grant a registration.<br>

“We expect it to be approved in California sometime early next year,” Allan said. “Every registration process is a rigorous process in California.”<br>

Midas is designed to control a broad range of soil-borne diseases, nematodes, weed seeds and insects that threaten high-value crops such as ornamentals, strawberries, fresh market tomatoes, peppers and turf. The fumigant is applied using conventional techniques and equipment.<br>

The company announced the following 29 states have given the green light for full commercial use of Midas: Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming.<br>

Producers can now buy Midas in all formulations through fumigant distribution channels.<br>