GROWERS HAVE a new option for fighting take-all plus a range of foliar and stem diseases after the provisional approval of Bayer‘s new fungicide.

Fandango (fluoxastrobin + prothioconazole) is aimed at providing T1 control of take-all in second wheats, together with all-round barley disease control, a representative said.

Trials have already found good results from prothioconazole, added Masstock‘s Clare Bend.

“We‘ve noticed that it has a much broader range of disease control, which includes activity on stem-based diseases that we haven‘t seen before from an azole, and that translates into higher yield.”

While fluoxastrobin does provide effects against take-all and sharp eyespot in wheat, it is likely to have a greater benefit for barley crops due to its improved net blotch activity, she noted.

Meanwhile, growers will have to wait until 2006 for a new mildew fungicide from DuPont, after approval of proquinazid was rejected following official Advisory Committee on Pesticides (ACP) concerns.

The company hopes to address these issues, ready for a launch next year, said fungicide product manager Andy Selley.