NEW ORLEANS – Root, stalk and foliar diseases, as well as environmental problems, are among the threats to sustainability – and going “clean and green” can provide the necessary protection.
“We know that some of the diseases that we have today such as wax and other diseases can contribute to maybe 60% loss of corn in some cases,” said Tyler Harp, Syngenta insecticide/fungicide technical product lead.
“In the year 2022, the problem of rain and availability of resources caused a delay in the planting of maize and soybeans. This made the plants vulnerable to disease early in the growing season and throughout the season. In addition, much of the US saw extremely hot summers, which also made crops more vulnerable to drought. “
What can farmers do to better manage these issues and preserve their yields?
Harp: It’s all about protecting the harvest and harvesting on two sides – white and green. White, because it does not have diseases that rob the harvest and fungicide, and green, because it is a strong, healthy plant that makes it more resistant to abiotic stress such as heat and drought.
Therefore, I am talking about the benefits of plants that produce healthy and fruitful crops. When you use a Syngenta plant fungicide such as our brand Miravis, you will often see long-term greening in the garden.
Even in fields with low disease risk, plant quality, such as grass plantings, can translate to higher corn and soybean yields. There is an aspect of abiotic stress management that continues to maintain productivity.
What have fungicides shown?
Harp: In a 2020 test plot in a field with less than 5% disease, untreated soybeans averaged 68.9 bushels per acre and soybeans treated with Miravis Top fungicide averaged 81.2 bushels per acre.
In most cases, the result is a higher yield and can add value to the grower and the return on investment can be significant.
We know that drugs such as Miravis and Trivapro are keeping the crop, not only with disease, but also through the management of severe problems – heat and drought.
What are the benefits of green plants?
Harp: Green means healthy, efficient and productive plants and green leaves provide more light and more light energy. Greener also means more water and nutrient use.
In addition, the green provides better and better yields. It means that healthy and high-quality seeds and good yields give a very profitable harvest.
All these three principles together, working in parallel with the use of Syngenta pesticides, allow the farmer to obtain a high yield.
What is “green and white” science?
Harp: Absorbing more light energy through green leaves. We have conducted research in the laboratory that clearly shows that the Adepidyn technology, which is one of the components of our Miravis brand, is used on soybeans in drought conditions that the crop can cope with and continue to have more. photochemistry in leaves.
Photochemistry is the light energy in a leaf that comes from sunlight that causes the leaf to continue to produce more energy. Therefore, in the event of stress the leaves use energy efficiently thanks to the technology of Adepidyn fungicide.
Green plants use water efficiently. A plant health benefit from Adepidyn’s technology helps plants retain water efficiently by reducing air pressure and maintaining high photosynthesis.
Do healthy plants have better performance and productivity?
Harp: Yes, when we compare treated and untreated corn, we know that the treated corn has a healthy stalk. When you have a lot of disease and abiotic stress, the leaves will pull starch from the stem and compromise the integrity of the stem.
So, not only are we getting higher yields in our treated and untreated plots, we are also getting shelter, and we have healthy stalks that allow the combine to move faster in the field and yield better.
When we set up the experiments, we showed that the minimum shelter allowed us to move about 2 miles per hour faster through the field, which resulted in a cost savings of $23 per acre.
It is very interesting when you consider the cost and benefit that this product can provide to the grower to not only protect against diseases that can reduce productivity, but also to maintain productivity in the face of abiotic stress such as drought and heat.
There are reports of tar in the Midwest. What are your suggestions for farmers to improve?
Harp: If you are in an area that has tar and there is an area that causes tar to form, we recommend that you apply a fungicide, even if the season is late or it is R1 or R2.
We have acres where we are seeing profits from two sources. Most of the shipping is done by the first service. We keep 30 bushels from the first program and we do the second program we can get eight to 10 bushes.
The first task is the most important. Plants as late as R1 seem to be the best time to use them, and there are tools out there like the Tarspotter program from the University of Wisconsin.
Tarspotter uses GPS tracking to determine whether the weather has been favorable for the development of tar fungus during the flowering period of corn in a particular field. The program’s models use local weather data, collected online, to predict conditions in many corn-growing regions. Based on these predictions and seed predictions, a spatial risk prediction is made.
Make no mistake, the inoculum is in the field and when the weather is good, you get the pitch.
The more fungicides you use, the more yield and benefits you will get from the fungicide.
