Winter wheat fungicide seed treatment ready for autumn

Vibrance Duo controls many seed-borne diseases and may boost growth and yield

A fungicide seed treatment that has been used on winter wheat since 2017 will be available for use on spring oats and winter and spring barley from this autumn.

Syngenta claims its Vibrance Duo controls a number of key seed-borne diseases and has also been shown to boost crop establishment, root growth and yield.

Syngenta’s field technical manager, Dr Jonathan Ronksley, said independent results have shown a 32% improvement in the growth of primary roots in treated winter barley seed compared with untreated seed, as well as “clear improvements” in the number and length of lateral roots.

“Improved rooting becomes all the more important in difficult growing conditions,” he said.

“Surprisingly these include wet soils, because roots become lazy as they don’t have to grow far to reach moisture.

“In plot trials looking at establishment of hybrid barley in last year’s wet autumn, Vibrance Duo boosted plant stand to 246 plants per metre squared compared with 216 plants per metre squared from a standard seed treatment.

“It also boosted early ground cover from 8.5% to 11%.”

Dr Ronksley said improvements in spring barley establishment had also been seen, and spring barley yield across 24 sites over three seasons was boosted by an average of 0.11 t/ha compared with a standard seed treatment.

Some of the key yield-reducing diseases that need to be targeted include leaf stripe; seedling blights such as Microdochium nivale, which cause poor establishment especially in poor seedbeds and with late drilling; and covered smut.

Yield-reducing diseases include leaf stripe and covered smut. Picture: Shutterstock.