Agriculture
16 February, 2024
Crop strategies vital this year: researcher
GOOD crop disease management will be required in 2024 after the early summer rain events and potential disease risk, according to Agriculture Victoria research scientist Dr Hari Dadu. Dr Dadu will speak on his approach to crop disease management at...
GOOD crop disease management will be required in 2024 after the early summer rain events and potential disease risk, according to Agriculture Victoria research scientist Dr Hari Dadu.
Dr Dadu will speak on his approach to crop disease management at this month’s Birchip Cropping Group trials review day.
“I’ll be discussing the importance of off-season and in-crop strategies to manage cereal diseases during 2024,” he said.
“This will include the advantages of removing green bridge by mid-March, use of cereal disease guide to select better varieties and the importance of paddock selection.
“I’ll also highlight the status of fungicide resistance in Victoria and detail the strategies to slow the fungicide resistance development and protect their longevity.”
Dr Dadu will also be discussing the results of 2023 trials which showed significant yield losses due to disease despite the dry spring.
“AgVic trials during 2023 demonstrated yield losses of up to 28 per cent and 18 per cent in susceptible varieties due to Septoria tritici blotch in wheat and Net form of net blotch in barley, respectively.
“Yield losses due to STB in Mallee were reported for the first time. In both crops, avoiding highly susceptible varieties reduced disease risk and yield losses. Fungicides were found effective where susceptible or worse rated varieties are grown,” Dr Dadu reflected.
Other topics covered on the day will include farmer and adviser experiences, grid sampling at a paddock scale, silicon in wheat and lentils, long coleoptile for moisture management, crop disease research, Rosinweed and Star of Bethlehem management, insects in harvest weed seed control systems, vetch for risk mitigation in dry times, soil microbial indicators, slug and snail management, pulse varieties update, the latest cereal varieties and protein mapping experiences.