THIS AUTUMN will be the first year for winter barley growers to try out a new seed treatment against a range of diseases, said manufacturers.

Aurigen Gold from Syngenta contains a mix of two active ingredients – fludioxonil (as in Beret Gold) and tebuconazole and was formally launched at the end of 2004 into the spring barley market.

It provides broad spectrum control against the major barley seedling diseases, including fusarium, microdochium, lose smut, leaf stripe and seed-borne net blotch, said the firm’s Rod Burke.

“Using different modes of action in this way is important for resistance management.

“For example triazole fungicides may have already been used to control net blotch on the growing crop, so people should be considering if it’s sensible to use seed treatments based solely on traizoles.”

The Beret gold element of the seed treatment provides a different mode of action to triazoles, he said.

Latest winter barley trials found that Aurigen Gold treatments delivered over 80% fusarium control and 99% control of other diseases, he noted.