NEW STROBILURIN AND BLACKGRASS TARGETS
NEW STROBILURIN AND BLACKGRASS TARGETS
SYNGENTA hoped to provide Cereals 2001 visitors with a preview of the yield-building effects of a new generation strobilurin product in cereals, and offer advice for tackling the expected increased weed infestations next season.
Picoxystrobin, which should gain approval in time for next spring, is intended for use on winter wheat and both winter and spring barley. Trials show it has broad-spectrum activity against all the key diseases and is particularly effective against septoria, the rusts, rhynchosporium and net blotch, the company explains.
Preliminary research shows it provides good curative control plus systemic and vapour activity. Curative and systemic effects are particularly useful early in the season when over-wintered disease lurks in the crop.
Syngenta is also particularly keen to highlight the need for effective weed control in next seasons crops. "Following difficulties with herbicide applications, blackgrass seed return may again be high this year," says companys Iain Hamilton. "Consequently the clean-up calendar will require greater attention to detail."
That should begin next month when blackgrass heads become visible as they push up through the crop. Infestations should be assessed and classified as moderate, bad or resistant.
After harvest, a clean start using stale seed-beds sprayed off with glyphosate will be particularly important where the lo-till approach is used to reduce populations to give subsequent sprays the best possible chance of providing effective control.
Mr Hamilton advises that pre-emergence herbicides should go on immediately after drilling, and to avoid being caught out again post-emergence treatments should be based on products with contact and residual activity, such as Hawk (clodinafop-propargyl), applied from 1-2 leaves of the weed.
A new strobilurin fungicide and improved blackgrass control were two topics Syngenta planned to profile at Cereals 2001, says the companys Iain Hamilton.