Three new initiatives have been funded by HGCA to alert the industry to in-season disease pressures and maximise the value of protectant sprays.

The work pays particular attention to airborne spores and conditions at the time of infection.

Dr Jenna Watts, HGCA Research Manager, said: “The key to protecting susceptible crops from disease is to get the timing of fungicide applications spot on.

“We are using research-based approaches to detect early disease pressure before visible symptoms develop.

“By publishing our findings on the HGCA website, the information will help growers know when crops are at risk of infection, so they can act accordingly.”

The first project, led by Rothamsted Research, is working towards ways of detecting pathogens in the field before infection takes hold, using air sampling technology.

Traditional air sampling methods have been around for decades and can effectively trap airborne spores but require time-consuming lab-based processing, which means information on pathogen pressure can often come too late for practical application in the field.

The project will look to automate this technology, by embracing modern DNA-based methods, so spores can be trapped, identified, quantified and the result sent out in a matter of minutes.

Dr Watts added: “We are really excited about this new project as it is set to take disease monitoring to a whole new level.

“The work will include the sampling of septoria, fusarium and sclerotinia spores, using both automated and conventional traps.

“Although a longer-term aspiration, it’s easy to see how a network of automated traps could feed real-time information on regional disease pressures and, potentially, even resistance status, through a web-based interface.

“We’ve included the tried and tested conventional traps in the study too, because we will also be able to test their samples in a lab with new diagnostic methods to speed up spore detection.”

The second project, led by ADAS, will look specifically at in-season monitoring of sclerotinia risk.

HGCA’s fungicide performance work shows fungicide timing during the flowering period is vitally important for good sclerotinia control, as products are protectants with little or no curative activity and because the period when the crop is at risk is longer than the period of fungicide protection.

Previous HGCA-funded work showed significant potential to flag up critical infection periods, using a simple model based on temperature and rainfall data.

The new work will explore how to link the model with in-field observations to make the model even better.

Dr Watts said: “In theory, we can forecast an infection event up to 48 hours in advance, providing time for growers to decide whether to make a targeted fungicide application.”

This year, HGCA will provide weekly reports on forecasted sclerotinia infection risk, alongside commentary on other disease risk factors – such as petal stick and spore release information.

The third project, led by ADAS, will look at in-season monitoring of fusarium infection risk during flowering.

In 2014, a simple model for assessing fusarium infection risk in winter wheat, based on the weather and growth stage parameters in the HGCA mycotoxin risk assessment, was developed and piloted as part of an HGCA-funded research project.

Risk forecasting will continue this season with weekly reports published on the HGCA website to provide a regional picture of fusarium infection risk during flowering.

The regional picture will be based on rainfall data, ear emergence and the proportion of the crop flowering. Information on crop growth stage will be gathered by an established network of independent agronomists, reporting at county level covering 30 counties in England and Scotland.

Work to validate the forecasted risk with actual mycotoxin (DON) levels at harvest will be a key component of the project.

It is hoped the work will not only help growers to time T3 sprays to control fusarium but also assist with the completion of the mycotoxin risk assessment and provide the industry with an early indication of regional risk.

Dr Watts concluded: “Our new investment adds further strength to HGCA’s in-season disease monitoring activities, generating valuable regional information to guide spray decisions and provide a foundation to accelerate our understanding of disease management.”

From early April, in-season disease monitoring information, which includes commentary on disease pressures at selected HGCA Recommended Lists winter wheat and barley trial sites, will be published weekly on www.hgca.com/monitoring