Following the wash-out autumn in 2019 and the elevated importance of spring sown crops this year, Adama UK has launched a new online crop protection portal to help growers tackle the twin challenges of cereal disease control and how to manage the increased area of spring plantings.

Containing a wealth of information regarding the protection of wheat and barley against diseases such as septoria, rhynchosporium and ramularia, the online guide focuses on the importance of multi-site fungicides – to not only to provide effective crop protection, but also prolong the lifetime of resistance susceptible single-site modes of action.

“In comparison to typical rotations, the current cropping cycle will undoubtedly contain a much higher proportion of spring sown cereals, pulses, oats and other crops,” said Abbie Bieny, digital marketing specialist for ADAMA UK. “At the same time, the loss of key fungicide actives to regulatory resistrictions and the erosion in efficacy of many ‘single-site’ azole, SDHI and strobilurin fungicides by mounting disease resistance, means arable growers are potentially facing one of their most challenging years in recent history.

“We have, therefore, created an easy to access online resource which outlines why growers must think carefully about how they structure their spring fungicide programmes – not only to provide effective protection this year, but also to slow the rate of further sensitivity shifts – and to guide them through the maze of spring cropping options.”

In contrast to single-site modes of action, folpet – a multi-site fungicide which targets several biochemical pathways within a pathogen – remains unaffected by resistance and continues to provide good levels of protection, she said.

The resource examines the role that folpet can have in spring programmes and provides some useful advice regarding when and how it should be used to provide maximum crop and partner product protection.

Additional resources within the crop protection hub include a spring cropping guide which contains all the information growers need to get the best from Adama’s portfolio of fungicides, herbicides and pesticides this spring, and a barley disease guide which brings together the latest information and advice for controlling a range of foliar, stem-base and ear diseases including rhynchosporium, net blotch, ramularia, powdery mildew, brown rust and eyespot in winter and spring crops.

The new hub is free to access, with subscribers to Adama’s weekly updates able to claim two BASIS points – visit https://www.adama.com/uk/en/home/cereal-disease-hub