Targetting all four foliar diseases of sugar beet – Cercospora, powdery mildew, rust and Ramularia - could result in higher yields and better returns for sugar beet growers. Dr Dominic Lamb of Gowan points out that fungicides will protect against a range of damaging diseases, delay leaf loss and help to retain green leaf into the autumn, which will boost sugar yields and growers returns. “With longer campaigns, the benefits of a well-timed and robust fungicide programme of two or three treatments will mean that the crop will have a stronger and greener canopy, which add to yield day by day.”
The triazole tetraconazole has been demonstrated to show activity on all four diseases and will be available to UK growers this year as Domark.
Dr Lamb says that in order to achieve the 70t/ha plus target, growers must aim to protect sugar beet from all foliar diseases and so keep the crop greener for longer. “Domark may be new to the UK user but it has an excellent reputation in other European countries.”
Domark contains 100 g/l tetraconazole, formulated as emulsifiable concentrate and packed in a 5 litre container. It has label recommendations for use in sugar beet, winter wheat, spring wheat, winter oats and spring oats. Applied in a programme, it tackles all four diseases in sugar beet and is recommended at 1 l/ha, with a maximum total dose of 2 l/ha. Its latest time of application is 30 days before harvest.
Dominic remarks that in a season where triazoles are in short supply but diseases are likely to be rife, having a choice of another triazole may be important to both beet and cereal growers.
