This is a new type of post that I hope to upload monthly to this blog site: a short little bit of information that can be read in about a minute that (hopefully) illustrates an important fact of value to growers in the SJV.
Our first 'Sixty Second Science Snippet" has to deal with pesticide names; specifically, that pesticides have more than one 'name' (i.e. a chemical name, a common name, and a trade name).
Pesticide Names
Chemical Name: A name that describes the chemical structure of an active ingredient
Example: N-((4,6-dimethoxypyrimidin-2-yl)aminocarbonyl)-3-(ethylsulfonyl)-2-pyridinesulfonamide
Figure 1. The chemical structure of rimsulfuron
Common Name: A generic name for an active ingredient that is often less complicated that the chemical name
Example: rimsulfuron
Trade Name: The 'brand name' that the manufacturer gives to the product (i.e. the name that the product is sold as)
Example: Matrix
Figure 2. Part of the Matrix herbicide label showing the trade name of the formulated product, and the common and chemical names of the active ingredient.
It's important to note that some pesticides marketed under different trade names can contain the same active ingredient. Glyphosate is a good example of this; Cinco, Buccaneer, and Rodeo (and many others) are all formulated products containing glyphosate in the form of its isopropylamine salt as the active ingredient.