Marginal fungicide spray programmes require a re-think

Barley

In barley, SRUC trials data showed even in spring crops that T1 timings are most crucial, followed by T2s, but additional sprays including T0 and T4 showed only very marginal benefits.

Prof Burnett said: “With barley we know those early T1 sprays are about setting the potential yield, so that’s a key timing, and the T2s top up that green leaf area. That allows us to focus in on what’s really necessary and take out some the additional sprays that may or may not be necessary.”

The industry now needs to focus on the value of varietal resistance, after coming through a period in which the solution was to treat crops and manage disease heavily, Prof Burnett said.

“We’re seeing resistant varieties coming through and it’s encouraging to see growers picking up more resistant varieties. However, what we’re not seeing is a reduction in the amount of fungicides being used.”

Bill Clark, technical director at NIAB, added: “We’ve done trials at NIAB, and probably a third of varieties on the Recommended List only need two sprays in most years. Yellow rust can still be an issue on these varieties, but this can still be controlled relatively cheaply.”

Protect

With new actives set to hit the market next year, it is key that stewarding them and existing products is made top priority, Prof Burnett added.

“Inatreq and Revysol are now very close to use, and we have several new batches coming through including new generation strobilurins and new generations SDHIs, and they need a different mindset.”