Cereal disease
Adaptive Disease Management (ADM) has been trialled at our Innovation Centres across the UK. 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.
Spray timing advice
Your T2 winter wheat spray should focus on protecting the key yield delivering flag leaf from Septoria and Rusts. A robust SDHI and prothioconazole spray, like ELATUSTM Era, will protect your crop and keep leaves greener for longer, helping to increase yield. ELATUSTM Era has also been show to help crops under drought conditions should it remain dry.
The main target for barley at T2 is Brown rust, which thrives in hot and dry conditions. An strong rust active SDHI-based spray such as ELATUSTM Era will provide good control.
Septoria tritici
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
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 ELATUSTM Era, at T2.
Yellow rust
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.
