Growers armed to tackle cereal and canola diseases

Southern region cereal and canola crops are expected to again come under high disease pressure this season.  

Fortunately though, growers of these crops can now rely on some extra fungicide options in their arsenal against disease and, importantly, these come with added flexibility and improved crop safety. 

One of the newer options is Proviso® fungicide from ADAMA Australia, which can be used in canola, wheat, barley and oat crops and also offers disease resistance management benefits. 

Proviso is a novel prothioconazole fungicide featuring the company’s unique Asorbital™ technology, which enables enhanced uptake and systemic activity for improved efficacy, compatibility and crop safety.  

Prothioconazole has shown to be the most effective demethylation inhibitor (DMI) fungicide for controlling various diseases, including net blotch populations with low and developing levels of resistance. However, rather than simply introducing another prothioconazole fungicide, ADAMA strived to develop an all-new formulation of the proven active ingredient to ensure real and tangible benefits to growers. 

Proviso can be used in tank mixes with a range of other crop protection and nutrition products, controlling a broader range of diseases in canola and cereals, including fusarium head blight in wheat, and to assist disease management. It can be ideally applied as the first foliar application following the use of Succinate Dehydrogenase Inhibitor (SDHI) or strobilurin-based fungicides on seed or in-furrow. 

ADAMA Australia Portfolio Manager – Fungicides, Matt Sherriff, said Proviso was a more cost-effective and adaptable fungicide, and, to enhance its effectiveness, could be applied with a host of tank mix partners, many of which are conveniently listed on the product label. 

Matt said growers could also have confidence in the knowledge that even where resistance may be developing to any triazoles, prothioconazole was the most effective of these fungicides and by using Proviso, they could avoid paying for additional active ingredients that may now be less effective. 

Ashley Pilkington, Market Development Manager with ADAMA Australia in SA, said Proviso was enabling growers to create specialist spray applications in their programs according to the target disease. 

“By containing just the one active ingredient in prothioconazole, growers can mix and match it with other active ingredients and custom-design their own brew,’’ Ashley said. 

“It’s excellent crop safety allows for good tank mix combinations and, as a result, improved disease control.’’ 

He said Proviso also was strongly used in canola in SA last year for blackleg protection, where it performed well with early grass sprays applied at the four to six-leaf stage. 

Proviso is expected to have a good fit in oat crops as well, especially with its 14-day withholding period compared with three-week periods for some other products. 

“It’s a great option if, after applications near grain-fill, crops get frosted and then may need to be cut for hay and sold,’’ Ashley said. 

_{Article written by Elders supplier ADAMA for Seasons magazine.}