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Drought tolerance

Disease levels have been checked to a degree and the key decision now is SDHI product and rate. “Here at Stanswood Farm we do have active Septoria in crops, but it is at fairly low levels. Earlier it looked like we could have a repeat of 2014 Septoria epidemic but the weather and well-timed T0 sprays have put us in a better position. It’s where we go from here – wet weather could see Septoria return, if it stays dry we could be looking at drought tolerance properties of certain SDHIs to try and preserve crop potential,” he notes.

Although various physiological benefit claims are made only Bayer’s Aviator235Xpro (prothioconazole + bixafen) has label claim for yield increases above disease control alone. Part of that label claim is increased chlorophyll content, something Bayer CropScience commercial technical manager Tim Nicholson says could be useful this season. “Increased chlorophyll aids photosynthesis and GLA retention. Under drought conditions light-capturing pigment chlorophyll degrades and leaves roll and dessicate.

“Anything that helps reverse this has to be beneficial. Trials with Aviator235Xpro at T2 under drought induced conditions have also shown an average extra 13% flag leaf area and 9% second leaf area from GS49 to GS 61.”

The other impact of drought stress is restricted nutrient flow to leaves, and again there was a benefit here too. “Using Infrared thermography we found that Aviator235Xpro treated plants buffered themselves against drought stress and remained cooler indicating more normal rates of transpiration,” he concludes.