Cereal resistance tools are here, use them
The need to safeguard people, the environment, and what we grow, is widely acknowledged, but crop protection company ADAMA NZ says the cereal industry must go even further if it is to continue to thrive.
Recent experience in the UK and Europe, and lately in New Zealand, has highlighted the increasing susceptibility of the single-site chemistry that the industry has relied on for generations. For many years, single-sites worked very effectively. However, due to resistance development efficacy of some products has begun to decline, in some cases dramatically.
The result is that yields are at risk and existing and new single-site chemistry must be protected to prevent fungi getting the upper hand.
ADAMA has been at the forefront of sharing global data and experience, in addition to delivering leading-edge multi-site chemistry, as part of the battle against Septoria tritici (speckled leaf blotch) and Ramularia resistance.
Cereal industry needs to be proactive
David MacGibbon, ADAMA NZ’s CEO, says protecting existing chemistry is not only an imperative for the cereal industry as a whole, but also for individual growers. Multi-site fungicides, he explains, have an essential part to play.
“If we’d ever needed a heads-up, it’s here. We need to be really smart about protecting the existing chemistry we have and the new chemistry that’s evolving or in the pipeline. As an industry we need to be proactively stewarding that chemistry, and our crops, by working closely with agronomists and industry specialists.”
One of the in-the-paddock challenges of resistance is that it is often not evident in a wheat or barley crop until it is too late to address the issue. “You really have to assume that it’s already there. Preventative beats curative, there’s no doubt about it.” David says. “And your programme should always begin with that conversation with your agronomist while keeping in mind the paddock’s history."
“Some people still have an attitude that they can’t go wrong sticking to the ‘tried and true’, but that may not cut it anymore. People who have experienced the impact of resistance have certainly learnt a very hard lesson. Up to 30% off a barley yield is fairly hard to take on the chin.”
This article was publsihed in the Ashburton Guardian, October 2019 issue. You can find the whole article incl. more information on ADAMA's cereal resistance tools Phoenix and Bolide below.