Herbicide Contamination Discovered in Midash Forte
Penn State Extension was recently notified of an issue with Midash Forte (EPA registration #83529-6), an imidacloprid-based insecticide produced by Sharda USA, LLC. The Georgia Department of Agriculture issued a stop sale order for this product last week when lot #TX433 was discovered to be contaminated with the herbicide triclopyr and in some instances, 2,4-D. Their statement can be viewed online.
Midash Forte is labeled for use in Pennsylvania on a wide range of fruits, vegetables, and other horticultural crops including pome and stone fruit.
Penn State Tree Fruit Entomologist Dr. Greg Krawczyk reports that it is unlikely that any tree fruit producers would be using this product at this time of year, so the risk of damage to an orchard is slight, even if a grower happened to be in possession of a contaminated batch.
However, producers with a diversified line of commodities – vegetables, small fruit, or tobacco (which is where problems were first observed) – may still be applying this product. If you have purchased Midash Forte, we recommend that you suspend use of this product until you can check your product's production lot/batch number.
To discover if your supply is among those affected, examine the container for the batch code. Affected products have a batch code of #TX433. No other contaminated batch codes have been reported at this time. While Sharda USA representatives doubt that #TX433 was sold outside of Georgia, or that the contamination is widespread among other batches, the prudent farmer should double-check before resuming its use.
Questions and concerns about batch codes other than #TX433 should be directed to the supplier that provided you with the product or to Sharon Gunning, Director of Supply Chain / Operations in Lansdale, PA, at +1-610-350-6930 / sgunning@shardaintl.com.
The horticulture teams at Penn State Extension are unfamiliar with this company or this particular brand of imidacloprid. It is difficult for us to know how many producers may be impacted by this problem. We would like to hear from you if you use Midash Forte (or other Sharda USA products), what crops you have applied – or are applying – it to, and where it was purchased. To let us know of your usage, contact Daniel Weber at daniel.weber@psu.edu or call +1-717-334-6271.
