2007 Rust Management Trial
Summary
Dry conditions prevented any yield data from being harvested from
either the sowing or foliar stripe rust treatments. However, the
demand for local data on these topics is still high from growers as the
understanding of potential loss is becoming more widespread through
trial sites and field days such as these.
Trial Aims and Design
With more than 70% of the recognised wheat varieties for the central
west of NSW now susceptible to some degree of economic damage due to
stripe rust, much interest has been raised in the area of seed
treatments to minimise the impact of the disease. Seed treatments
that give suppression on stripe rust not only delay the onset of the
disease, but they make the logistics of management easier by spreading
the burden of spraying over a wider window or eliminating the need
altogether. Most of the research work done by chemical companies
has focussed on highly susceptible varieties, which nearly always show
an economic response. This work aimed to investigate the impact
on a moderately susceptible variety (more likely to occur on most
farms).
The trial also aimed to spray portions of these treated areas with
commonly used fungicides to ascertain any interactions between the
treatments and to confirm or reject existing research that suggests
there is little difference between the commonly used
products tebuconazole and propiconazole (and to a lesser extent,
triadimefon).
A summary of the main aspects of the trial are as follows:
| Paddock History: |
Wheat in 2006 and 2005, canola in 2004
and wheat in 2003. |
| Date Sown: |
19 July 2007 |
| Variety: |
Sunstate at 50kg/ha.
Crown Rot
- 5, Common Root Rot - 6, Stripe Rust - 5, Yellow Leaf Spot - 4,
Root
Lesion Nematode - 4; NSW DPI ratings. |
| Starter Fertiliser: |
40kg/ha MAP with seed |
| Equipment Used: |
12m NDF with
disc delivery assembly, pulled by a 285hp John Deere
tractor. MAP and the seed were sown
together via the disc. For more information, visit www.ndf.com.au.
|
| In-Crop Spraying: |
22 August - 65mL/ha Topik, 0.5L/100L Uptake at 70L/ha, 75mL/ha Fastac Duo (cutworm control) |
The rainfall received at the site was as follows:
| 01-10 June |
91.2 |
21 July |
0.2 |
20 August |
3.0 |
| 11-20 June |
0.4 |
30 July |
0.2 |
21 August |
1.0 |
| 21-30 June |
30.4 |
03 August |
6.0 |
11 September |
0.4 |
| 01-10 July |
9.6 |
04 August |
7.0 |
28 September |
0.2 |
| 11-19 July |
1.2 |
08 August |
0.2 |
26 October
|
2.0 |
|
|
17 August |
3.0 |
30 October |
0.6 |
| TOTAL |
132.8mm |
|
|
TOTAL (sowing - end Oct) |
23.8mm
|
In the area adjacent the
disc versus tine trial, treatments of Raxil
® (2.0kg/tonne seed), Jockey
® (3L/tonne seed) and Triad 500®
(200g/ha) were sown for the length of the field. These areas were
then planned to be harvested using yield monitoring equipment and the
data analysed for any differences.
The foliar fungicide applications did not occur due to both the dry
conditions resulting in very little rust inoculum being present and the
crop failing to set any harvestable yield.
Results
Unfortunately, the trial strips were not
harvested due to the severe drought conditions experienced during the
spring. Obviously this has made
comparisons of the various treatments impossible. This work will need to be repeated if any
conclusions are to be drawn as to the effectiveness of the various seed
treatments.
