FINAL DECISIONS to apply fungicides for sclerotinia and oilseed rape pod disease control need to be made now, growers have been told.

With many crops now beyond the stage for treatment, urgent decisions are needed for later flowering crops in northern areas and spring OSR crops, according to the latest Crop Monitor report.

Very early sclerotinia symptoms have already being detected in the south, although the number of plants affected is very low, said the report’s author, Peter Gladders, from ADAS.

“Crops are now at the critical stage for treatment in many parts of the [North] region.

“It is now timely to review the risk of attacks in individual fields and make fungicide applications where risks are judged to be high.

“Spring oilseed rape is also susceptible to sclerotinia and crops could be at risk when they flower in late May/early June,” he said.

Growers should asses sclerotinia risk for individual crops, based on previous disease history and weather during flowering, he advised.

High levels of phoma stem canker are also evident on some Crop Monitor plots, so lodging and premature ripening will be evident in June where control has been unsatisfactory, he added.

He suggested growers refer to the Home Grown Cereals Authority’s guide to sclerotinia risk factors, available from www.hgca.com, under On-line tools.