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It has been quite a few years since I could bring news of so many new actives for crop protection in the pages of this magazine.
True to their word, all of the major agchem companies report new actives both close to and further from market. These arrive in the form of new actives for disease and weed control, with new families of chemistry among them.
It is also noteworthy that we are seeing the introduction of chemistry from families that currently have problems but these still appear to be working.
Good news
It seems that chemistry has been altered slightly to help overcome the changes in biology experienced by some weeds and diseases.
This is really good news – perhaps there are hundreds of actives filed away in libraries which might be useful if they have one small alteration in their basic design.
So there is more hope on the horizon than we have seen for many years, but will it be too little too late?
Let’s hope not, but the loss of important actives such as chlorothalonil will add to the challenge of protecting new single-site mode of action fungicides.
We have been dealt a lesson over the past few decades and the time has come to learn from it to better protect our future.
Confirmation of significant resistance to two main wild oat herbicides reconfirms nature’s ability to fight back
The challenges do not stop coming though, as nature fights back. We see this happening in diseases, insects and weeds.
Confirmation of significant resistance to two main wild oat herbicides reconfirms nature’s ability to fight back and adds to the challenge of continued control using sprays. It also sets the challenge of learning to live with and slow the movement of these problems.
Economic consequences
As well as the economic consequences of this finding, the confirmation of significant levels of wild oat resistance in Wexford may well be reflected in the demand for straw from there in the years ahead.
This has long been a significant mechanism for spread and so all farmers will have to ask more difficult questions.
Whether it be insect, weed or fungus, it is obvious that farmers will have to offer a stronger helping hand to chemicals to help relieve the pressure on them and reduce the risk of further resistance development.
This means more attention to detail, whether that be called good farming or integrated pest management.
We need to look towards many other combined alternatives
This publication brings you the current state of affairs with regard to resistance across all platforms. While chlorothalonil will be a big loss for disease control, it is argued that folpet will go close to filling the void in the short term, but at a higher cost and lower control efficiency.
But with questions being asked about all contacts, we need to look towards many other combined alternatives, especially for septoria, ramularia and net blotch control.
BYDV challenges
But there are ongoing challenges for BYDV protection also. This will be our first autumn without Deter for some years and early planting must be seriously evaluated against this risk.
It is possible that farm hygiene and neighbouring husbandry may help, but aphids are very mobile and so the greatest concentration must be on sowing date. That said, biologically active soils may offer stronger natural control options than some of our sterile worn tillage ground so this too must be considered.
As we move forward, we can expect far more losses of important plant protection products.
It is an added worry that EU institutions and breeders are not able to avail of controlled mutagenesis to alter current varieties to repair their greatest weaknesses. This advancing science has huge potential to help offset the problems imposed by nature and the loss of chemical actives.
Buy the Irish Farmers Journal this week for the full Crop Protection magazine, which includes tables of commercial fungicides, herbicides, insecticides and plant growth regulators.
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