New online disease management tools

Two new web-based tools to help growers and consultants manage crop diseases have been launched by the Scottish Agricultural College (SAC).

The ‘Adopt-A-Crop’ database provides current and historic information on the development and disease levels in commercial crops of winter and spring cereals and oilseed rape across Scotland.

“The current crop health status will be most relevant to growers, but it also allows you to go back in time to see what was happening in previous seasons,” commented the SAC’s Simon Oxley.

Growers can also compare the activity of 20 key fungicides against the major barley diseases – including rhynchosporium, mildew, rusts, ramularia and net blotch – by using the ‘Appropriate Fungicide Dose Curve Generator’.

Up to six products can be selected at any one time to compare their efficacy against different diseases in terms of grain yield, margin, green leaf, or a number of other ‘purposes’.

Both tools are available free and can be found within the SAC Crop Clinic at www.sac.ac.uk/crops