Cereal disease

Adaptive Disease Management (ADM) has been used at our Innovation Centres across the UK for years now.  It uses drilling date, variety and location to plan a fungicide programme at the start of the season and allows you to adapt this in season according to the weather. 

Early drilling has given barley crops a great start to establishment and development.  The mild winter weather has meant crops are lush, although the result is high levels of disease coming into the spring. The main targets for barley at T0 are Net-blotch and Rhynchosporium.  The addition of KAYAK (cyprodinil) to your programme at this timing will not only improve disease control, but will also aid resistance management.

Yellow rust has already been seen in wheat this spring after mild conditions and drilling, on average, earlier than last year.  Consider whether a T0 is needed to help keep Yellow rust under control before the T1 timing.

Septoria tritici is the number one foliar disease in wheat. It can reduce yield by up to 50% and with a latent period of 14-28 days (around 350 day degrees), by the time you see infection on the leaf the damage has already been done.

Fungicide curativity has decreased over the years, so it is important to stay on the front foot against Septoria. The disease is favoured by early drilling and mild winters, although there are more resistant varieties available, the majority are still moderately to highly susceptible.  

Don’t rely on reduced curativity; protect your winter wheat with a robust SDHI spray, like ELATUS™ Era, at T2 timing to prevent yield and quality loss.

Ramularia, a seed-borne disease which can survive on crop debris, can reduce yield by up to 10%.  While this is much lower than other barley diseases, resistance to chemistry makes it difficult to control effectively.  It appears to be “dormant” in the plant until conditions are right – a prolonged period of high humidity, although it is inhibited by hot dry weather or periods of drought.

Ramularia can be identified by these characteristics:

• Rectangular lesions
• Restricted by leaf veins
• Reddish colour
• Ring of chlorosis
• Right through the leaf

Currently the best way to control Ramularia is to include Bravo in your programme with an SDHI and prothioconazole spray, like ELATUS^TM Era, at T2.

Yellow rust favours humid conditions and cycles every 7-14 days, dependent on temperature.  The yield loss potential is high, possibly up to 50%, and trials have shown early control at T0 is critical to maintain yield and quality.

A winter wheat variety may have adult plant resistance but Yellow rust races mutate quickly.  It is important to factor variety into your fungicide programme at the start of the season and adapt the programme based on what you see in the field as the season progresses.

We gathered a panel of independent experts to to discuss both adult and seedling resistance in varieties and how these traits might impact a fungicide programme.