Vanscoy, Sask. – At a recent BASF plot tour near Vanscoy, Mark Kuchuran, a BASF rep from Saskatoon, discussed fungicide application tips for disease control in pulse crops.
“In field peas, we run a number of different timings of application for disease control. This year, the main disease has been mycosphaerella blight, with a lot of ascochyta foot rot showing up in grower’s fields,” he said.
“We’ve done a number of applications, from early flower applications, followed by mid-flower and late flower, to see if there’s a benefit of controlling mycosphaerella blight in thicker plant canopies, along with providing powdery mildew control later in the season.”
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For a farmer applying Headline in his pea crop, Kuchuran said he’d have to look at how well the crop is growing and if it has any ascochyta foot rot and the level of mycosphaerella blight on his leaves. Then he’d have to decide if it would warrant an application, looking at weather patterns and disease risk scales, which are available through extension services.
The economic threshold for when disease controls are cost effective is based on the price of peas, Kuchuran said.
“If peas are $3.50 a bushel, it could take five to 10 bushels per acre to pay for your application costs. But we have seen benefits in fields where infection levels are 30 percent up the plant,” he said.
“In terms of coverage, if you’ve got a thick plant canopy at the early- to mid-flower stage, you’d probably need more water. More water is better to get coverage of all foliage on a pea plant, to reduce the number of spores spreading by rain splash.”
Kuchuran said 15 gallons per acre is necessary for a thick plant canopy in peas, while a thinner crop would probably get adequate coverage and protection with 10 gallons of water.
A secondary benefit of spraying pea crops with a fungicide is how it keeps the ripened crop from lodging.
“We have noticed with guys that sprayed Headline, there was some difference in standability. Some of the growers commented they could combine a couple of miles an hour faster on the treated side versus the untreated side. We’re looking into more benefits of fungicides in peas under high disease levels.”
In the lentil plots, Kuchuran said he’s also looking at different application timings.
“Usually we focus the lentil application at the early flower stage, or just prior to that, to get penetration to the lentil stems, before the canopy closes in,” he said.
“If we can get to the base of the stem, we’re going to have good coverage of the foliage. As long as a guy is spraying before his canopy closes, he’ll usually see a benefit, depending on his disease pressure.
“We’ve done early applications – eight to 10 nodes – all the way up to mid-flower stage. The earlier we’ve gone in lentils, the better results we’ve seen in terms of yield.”
Kuchuran said most farmers do only one fungicide application in lentils, and as long as they put it on early it should provide acceptable control. But in some cases, when the situation warrants it, two fungicide applications may be necessary.
“We look at multiple applications. We’ve looked at Headline followed by Lance, which will control ascochyta, as well as sclerotinia and botrytis. Lance is a new fungicide with a different mode of action that we’ve registered last year.”
Kuchuran said if a farmer has a promising lentil crop, he’d recommend using Headline first to control anthracnose, as long as there was penetration of the stems before the canopy closes in. If the crop has ascochyta and a bit of botrytis or sclerotinia, Kuchuran would recommend a Lance application early.
“It all depends on what diseases and weather conditions are out there. If it’s been cool and wet, moisture-loving diseases like botrytis or sclerotinia might come in. That’s when it might warrant a product like Lance to control those diseases,” he said.
“If your lentils are at the mid-flower stage and it’s a thick canopy, it’s going to be difficult to penetrate down to the base of the stem. It’s similar to peas, where you’d want to use more water to get better coverage and penetration.”
