Australia
August 6, 2010

Timely application is more important than choice of fungicide in controlling stripe rust, according to Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC)-supported research trials.

Multi-product trials conducted in the Bellata area, NSW showed early controls at or just prior to disease detection resulted in an average $17 per hectare net benefit even under low severity stripe rust conditions.

However delaying fungicide timing by about two weeks resulted in an average net cost of $16/ha.

Richard Daniel, Northern Grower Alliance (NGA) chief executive officer says foliar fungicides are an effective and economic stripe rust management tool in susceptible and moderately susceptible wheat varieties.

“Good levels of economic benefit can generally be obtained by spraying at early signs of infection, even under tough seasonal conditions,” Mr Daniel said.

With early reports of cereal rust now emerging in the northern grains region, Mr Daniel says growers should be weighing their control options and gearing up for timely sprays of fungicide.

“These trials showed good levels of net benefit from early applied foliar fungicides for stripe rust management even in crops only yielding about 2-2.6 tonnes/ha ” he said.

“Little or no difference was observed between fungicides at the main timing.

“This result supports other research that indicates timing of fungicide application for stripe rust is generally far more important than product choice.”

Stripe rust as re-emerged as a disease of significance across all Australian grain-growing areas in recent years.

Mr Daniel said plant breeding incorporating resistant germplasm represented the most effective method of long term disease management.

“However fungicides are an additional tool that will enable disease management in varieties without effective genetic resistance,” he said.

GRDC-funded research into stripe rust management in the north over last 4 years has helped to deliver better management practices for stripe rust and greater profitability from use of strategic fungicide application.

Website: http://www.grdc.com.au

Published: August 6, 2010