The excellent price of oilseed rape means that every pod is worth preserving and growers are being urged to consider using an effective anti-pod shatter product this harvest to make sure that they hang on to as much seed as possible and make as much profit as they can.

“Early drilled rape, particularly on heavier land, is looking good, with good levels of pod set.  But development of some later drilled crops, particularly on light land, has been adversely affected by the very dry spring. These crops have moved through growth stages very rapidly and some have sacrificed pods as a result.  Whichever crop scenario you are experiencing, rape seed is more valuable than it has been for many years and it is worth finishing off the job properly and minimising any losses at harvest by using a product such as Iskay.  In adverse conditions prior to harvest, potential seed losses can be as high as 50%, but are very often around 25%, which represents a great deal of money these days,” says Alan East, Technical Manager for Interagro.

“Trials work with our distributor partners Masstock Arable has shown that the use of Iskay can result in yield increases of over 0.52 t/ha, worth over £200/hectare with rape at £385/tonne, and increases of 0.3% oil content.”

Alan explains that Iskay is a specialist blend of polymers, emusifiers and surfactants, designed to minimise seed losses in oilseed rape due to pod shatter during harvest, improving both yield and reducing the number of volunteers after harvest.  “Iskay is a specialist pod sticker that works by forming a lattice or mesh over the fragile pods, which means that the upper and lower pods are secured together, preventing the pod from opening up and minimising seed loss during harvest.”

“Iskay has no adverse effects on the crop and allows the pod to mature naturally, enabling the crop to achieve its maximum yield.  It doesn’t affect the speed of desiccation and has no adverse effects on seed quality or seed maturity, enabling growers to manage harvest more efficiently,” he says.

“Its use also has a knock-on effect of reducing rape volunteers in subsequent crops, which are becoming more difficult and expensive to control and which can encourage higher slug populations.”

Iskay has been used successfully in Holland, Poland and other European countries in several podded crops including oilseed rape, peas, beans, linseed and flax. It is being trialled in grass-seed.

Iskay is recommended at a dose rate of between 0.5 to 1 litres/ha in 150-400 litres of water as a medium quality spray.  The higher dose rates and higher water volumes should be used in dense crops.  Iskay is applied from when pods are green and bendy (BBCH 80) up to fully ripe when nearly all pods are ripe and seeds black and hard (BBCH 89).  It can be used alone or in tank mix with desiccants such as glyphosate or diquat.  It is packed in a 5 litre pack and is available throughout the UK from Masstock.