Stick with thin crops for better fungicide response

摘要

Cereal growers are being urged to persist with their thin backward winter crops as they will respond more to disease-controlling fungicide sprays than thick ones. The bulk of yield comes from the still-to-come grain filling stage, so keeping a lid ondisease is key as crops race through their growth stages after a cold spring. Bill Clark, commercial technical director of crop consultant NIAB TAG, says the late season means fungicide regimes will be simpler and less expensive than in 2012, but still important. "Thin crops can yield OK provided we protect as much green leaf area as we can by good disease control and then we get good grain filling conditions after flowering in June," he tells Farmers Weekly.