Northern grain growers are being urged to consider strategic ‘at planting’ fungicide treatment as part of a three-pronged strategy for combating cereal rust.
Chief executive officer of the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC)-funded Northern Grower Alliance (NGA) Richard Daniel said rust resistant cereal varieties, controlling the ‘green bridge’ of volunteer plants and strategically using fungicide, seed or fertiliser treatments were paramount in reducing the early incidence of stripe rust.
"In recent years stripe rust has re-emerged as a disease of significance across all Australian grain growing areas,” Mr Daniel said.
"Plant breeding incorporating resistant germplasm represents the most effective method of long term disease management, however fungicides are an additional tool that will enable disease management in varieties with lower rust resistance levels.”
Recent GRDC-supported research focused on examining the crop safety, length of efficacy and economic benefit available from fungicide seed treatment for early stripe rust control under northern conditions.
The aim was to validate 2005 NSW Department of Primary Industries (NSW DPI) results and generate additional data to enable improved advice for regional stripe rust management.
The research, in both 2006 and 2007, showed seed treatment can still provide useful suppression of stripe rust in the variety Lang , more than twelve weeks after planting.
Mr Daniel said plant establishment data showed good crop safety levels from the fungicide seed treatment used under a range of northern conditions in both years, which supported results from other regions.
“The use of ‘at planting’ fungicides will be a valuable risk management tool in situations of moderate to high stripe rust risk, or where logistics make timely foliar fungicide application difficult or impractical,” he said.
“However it is important to stress that the use of fungicides at planting alone is unlikely to provide sufficient protection in years with high stripe rust pressure or where very susceptible varieties are grown."
Mr Daniel said under these conditions additional foliar protection may be warranted.
SOURCE: Northern Grower Alliance, GRDC