Trial Report · Season 2025/26

MTC Tobacco Trials — Karoi

A Maguires–MTC small-scale trial on Mr Bvundura’s farm in Karoi — comparing Fluopyram and Kyno-Humate against Fluopyram alone and Plesiva Star, to assess root development, nematode and insect pressure, and how the treated rows establish against the control.

A healthy trial row of tobacco in leaf

Trial at a Glance

Farmer
Mr Bvundura
Location
Karoi
Planted
19 November 2025
Trial Rows
3 treatment rows + control

Trial Overview

The Mashonaland Tobacco Company packs were used throughout this farmer’s fields. The trial set three rows against the standard programme to answer three questions — how the crop’s roots develop, whether nematodes and insects take hold, and how the treated rows compare with the control.

  • Row 1 — Fluopyram (23 mL) + Kyno-Humate (125 mL) in 10 L of water; the primary nematicide paired with our root bio-stimulant
  • Row 2 — Fluopyram (23 mL) in 10 L of water; the primary nematicide on its own, understudy
  • Row 3 — Plesiva Star (0.6 g) in 10 L of water, substituting the primary insecticide Imidacloprid

Each row carried 80 plants, with a 30 mL cup of the relevant solution added to every planting hole.

The trial rows laid out with treatment signs against the control

The Season, Step by Step

The rows were followed from planting in November 2025 through root sampling and on to harvest.

  1. 19 November 2025

    Planting day

    It rained on planting day. Old maize stalks were left in the lands, but insect presence was low. Soil moisture was low, so moisture-enhancing practices were implemented at planting. A 30 mL cup of each row’s solution was added to every planting hole, with 80 plants per row.

    Freshly planted trial rows on planting day
    Transplanting seedlings into the ridged rows

  2. 12 December 2025

    First visit — trial versus control

    There is a visible difference between the control row on the right of the image and the trial rows on the left. All the plants in the trial rows have taken and are looking healthy, while there have been plant deaths in the control area, where the plants appear stressed and less established. Weeds were visible in both the trial and control areas.

    Trial rows on the left, control row on the right, with treatment signs

  3. 18 December 2025

    The treatments side by side

    The four rows compared, left to right: Fluopyram + Kyno-Humate, Fluopyram alone, Plesiva Star, and the control. The treated rows are noticeably more even and better established than the control.

    Fluopyram plus Kyno-Humate row
    Fluopyram-only row
    Plesiva Star row
    Control row, sparse and weedy

  4. 8 January 2026

    Second visit — the trial area

    The trial rows through early January: Fluopyram + Kyno-Humate, Plesiva Star and Fluopyram alone. All are looking healthy and well established.

    Fluopyram plus Kyno-Humate row in early January
    Plesiva Star row in early January
    Fluopyram-only row in early January

  5. 14 January 2026

    Established and measured

    The plants in the trial area are healthy and well established, with fewer weeds noticed — an average of 8 leaves and an average length of 45 cm. The control plants have improved but are less established and uniform, with signs of sun scorching. A field scout of the control area also turned up visible insects.

    Control area, less established, in mid January
    An insect scouted in the control area

  6. Root sampling

    Digging up the difference in the roots

    To answer the trial’s central question — root development — whole plants were lifted from each treatment and the control. Laid side by side, the root mass tells the story that the canopy only hints at.

    Four plants lifted and laid out to compare their root systems

  7. Root sampling

    The roots up close

    Up close, from left to right: Fluopyram, Fluopyram + Kyno-Humate, Plesiva Star and the control. The Fluopyram and Kyno-Humate combination shows the fullest, most fibrous root development of the four.

    Root system from the Fluopyram row
    Root system from the Fluopyram plus Kyno-Humate row
    Root system from the Plesiva Star row
    Root system from the control row

  8. 20 February 2026

    Third visit — the crop grows out

    By late February the trial area has grown out into a full, even crop across the treated rows, holding its colour and vigour towards the end of the season.

    Trial rows grown out in late February
    A second view of the trial rows in late February

  9. Harvest

    The harvested crop

    The reaped leaf coming out of the trial and into the barn to cure — the end point of the season’s work.

    Reaped leaf being handled at the barn
    Loading the curing barn
    Cured leaf coming off the barn

Conclusion

The chemical combinations — especially the treatments involving Fluopyram and Kyno-Humate — showed clear early benefits:

  • Improved early crop growth
  • Stronger plant establishment
  • Healthy foliage
  • Some plants washed away by heavy rains

These results indicate positive early trial performance and justify continued monitoring. Samples have been taken and submitted to Kutsaga for root and soil nematode analysis.

Key Finding

Fluopyram paired with Kyno-Humate gave the strongest early establishment and the fullest root development of all the rows — standing clearly apart from the control from the very first visit.

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