FOR MANY growers, last week’s Cereals Event was the first big chance to evaluate the effectiveness of the great white hope fungicide for the industry, Syngenta’s Elatus Era.

Adding value for money is the key ingredient in any fungicide’s success and even more so with more expensive SDHIs, of which Elatus is part of a new generation.

The industry’s high expectations to deliver more than just disease control, seems to have been satisfied in Elatus’ first season.

Jason Tatnell, Syngenta’s technical indication expert, said at Cereals that the positives were there to see in light of a challenging season.

“This year has been a prime example of why growers should understand the ‘extra’ benefits that can be expected from any potent SDHI fungicide, above and beyond just disease control, when it comes to crop development and the resulting yield impact,” said Mr Tatnell.

He added that green leaf area (GLA) retention was an additional benefit delivered by persistent SDHI fungicides. “It’s scientifically proven that extending the duration of GLA from the point of flag leaf emergence can equate to an additional yield of 0.15t/ha/day.

“What we’ve seen in multiple trials carried out across Europe and most importantly in the UK, is the ability of Elatus to deliver persistent disease control, which directly results in clean, green leaves for longer, when applied at T2 to the flag leaf.

“Importantly, rather than senescence being elongated over four or five days, we’ve been able to keep the crop fully functioning very close to the day of harvest, without delaying harvest, equating to an average total yield of 9.8 tonnes per ha in trials.”

SDHI fungicides have also been shown to reduce drought stress, he pointed out. “The dry conditions we’ve seen between March and May this year mean a lot of crops have been under an increased amount of stress.

“However, Elatus has been proven to reduce leaf transpiration without impacting photosynthesis. Its ability to deliver equal yields, using less water, ensures crops can better tolerate drought situations. It offers growers another tool in the box when drought stress is an issue.

“This year’s dry season has meant that many growers have reduced their yield targets. However, there is still potential in crops and when it comes to chemistry choice, every little helps to maximise yield,” he said.