CROP YIELDS INCREASE WITH NEW FUNGICIDE OPTION

A recommendation to utilise Miravis® Star fungicide on faba beans, instead of older fungicides, has seen a reduction in disease severity and helped achieve higher yields at Rand in southern New South Wales.

In what was a wetter-than-average season, Elders Agronomist Chris Toohey said the grower had planted faba beans for a host of reasons, and to get away from a wheat and canola rotation. Namely, to improve his integrated weed and disease management strategies, while increasing yields through the use of grain legumes.

Large rainfall events meant the 2022 growing season resulted in conditions conducive to disease in all crops, including faba beans which were certainly hit hard in surrounding areas.

“The rainfall meant the disease environment and pressure was extremely high, so we looked at a product that provided longer season protection,” Mr Toohey said.

“The older chemistry doesn’t come close to the new SDHI chemistry in terms of the protection period.”

To look at the differences, the grower put two different programs side-by-side in the same paddock.

One program received four fungicide applications with a combination of industry standards including Mancozeb and Carbendazim mix strategies, while the other program comprised just two applications of Miravis® Star fungicide from Syngenta.

Harvest revealed some big differences between these treatments, in between parts of the paddock which were impacted by heavy rainfall and flooding.

Mr Toohey said the MIRAVIS® Star fungicide sprayed area averaged 4.5 to 5 tonne per hectare (ha) (outside of the waterlogged areas) while the better areas of the standard fungicide program yielded only 3 tonne per ha. Based on a conservative $350 per t for faba beans in 2022, the extra 1.5 to 2 t per ha was worth an extra $525 to $700 per hectare.

“Miravis® Star is a premium product but gives premium results, the gross margin in the Miravis® Star treated area was significantly better.”

During the season Mr Toohey said there was a distinct line between the two treatments, with the Miravis® Star fungicide treated area showing up as taller and greener.

The initial Miravis® Star fungicide application was made at canopy closure and the second application at midflowering.

“It kept disease at bay from flowering through pod-fill and to harvest,” Mr Toohey said.

“Due to the season the grower was unable to apply the chemistry with their ground rig, so all fungicides were put on by air.”

MIRAVIS® Star fungicide remains an excellent option for application by ground rig, however Mr Toohey said the ability to apply the fungicide aerially should be weighed up by growers outside of wet periods when trafficability or compaction are front of mind. When ground rig applications in his district generally cost $12 per ha, versus $18 per ha for aerial application, Mr Toohey said he could see a strong case for making two applications of MIRAVIS® Star fungicide aerially, versus four applications or lesser fungicides, while achieving superior results.

*Indicative cost of ground rig application (less chemical prices) in the Riverina, NSW. **Indicative cost of aerial application (less chemical prices) in the Riverina, NSW. Figures are a guide only, please consult contractors in your region for prices relevant to your geography and needs.

Table 1: By using Miravis® Star fungicide, Mr Toohey said a grower could save about $36 per ha in application costs (less the price of fungicide) if choosing aerial application over grower-standard, ground-applied program.

“Two applications with a plane versus four applications with a ground rig is certainly a cheaper option,” he said.

“That’s without considering the differences in disease control between a standard program and MIRAVIS® Star.”

In the Riverina, Mr Toohey said Botrytis (chocolate spot) and Ascochyta blight are common diseases of concern for many pulse crop growers. He said the residual activity of Miravis® Star provided peace of mind in various pulse crops as well as canola when it came to key diseases.

“We were after that longevity with the product, and it worked really well. The grower was keen to look at the new chemistry as a side-by-side.”

“I really enjoy the aspect of showing new product benefits with growers’ side-by-side to older ones, it’s great to show growers in large scale on their own property.”

MIRAVIS® Star is a Group 7 and 12 fungicide for the control of diseases in canola, chickpeas, lentils, faba beans and other pulse crops. In faba beans it is registered for Cercospora Leaf Spot (Cercospora zonata).

The broad-spectrum disease control and extended residual activity made MIRAVIS® Star the ideal option on the Rand property.

“When you get this sort of value and extra yield, the results speak for themselves,” Mr Toohey said. This article was written by Elders supplier ®Registered trademark of a Syngenta Group Company.