Cool weather at the start of the season with sufficient moisture contributes to the active development of rhizoctonia disease on potatoes, or black scab (the causative agent is a mushroom Rhizoctonia solani Kühn). The disease affects seed tubers and shoots in storage, seedlings of potatoes in the field, stem bases, roots, stolons and tubers of a new crop. Rhizoctoniasis is especially dangerous at the very beginning of potato growth: the emergence of seedlings is delayed, the tubers either die without forming seedlings, or give weakened shoots. In this case, the potato planting is greatly thinned out.
The new fungicidal dressing SERKADIS from BASF effectively controls rhizoctonia and ensures a high commercial quality potato crop. SERKADIS shows high efficiency against rhizoctonia in the Urals and Siberia, where weather conditions very often contribute to the strong development of this disease.
Premium quality potatoes with SERCADIS
The defeat of potato plantings by rhizoctonia leads not only to a reduction in yield. The development of this disease can result in a complete loss of marketability of ware potatoes and seed quality of tubers. The consequences of infection of tubers with the fungus Rhizoctonia solani are manifested in cracking, deformation, a decrease in the yield of marketable fractions, and a deterioration in appearance (black scab, net necrosis).
Production experiments have shown that the use of SERKADIS provides effective protection against rhizoctonia. It is important to note that SERKADIS does not have a retardant effect. The drug does not inhibit the development of potatoes in the early stages. As a result, due to the use of SERKADIS, the yield of marketable tubers is significantly increased (see Fig. 1).
Balance of high efficiency and selectivity
Modern preparations have made it possible to significantly optimize the process of dressing tubers during planting, and this method has become widely used. However, with this method of etching, it is especially important to take into account all the properties of the drug, since a number of fungicidal dressing agents can be deactivated in the soil, decomposed by microorganisms and have a weak systemic spread in the plant. It was also noted that a number of drugs have a negative effect on the crop itself, reducing germination or slowing down the development of potatoes in the early stages of growth, even with a high biological effectiveness of these drugs against diseases.
The results of using SERKADIS in production have shown that, against the background of excellent biological effectiveness, the drug has high selectivity. This means that the potatoes are not stressed after the application of SERKADIS. On the contrary, when processing Serkadis during planting, the culture forms uniform seedlings (see Fig. 2 and 3).
“In 2019, we applied Serkadis on 100 hectares of seed potatoes by spraying the tubers and the bottom of the furrow through a planter,” shares his experience with the Serkadis treater agronomist LLC Valmiks (Moscow region) N. V. Donets. - As a result, the development of rhizoctonia on the tubers was not observed, we noticed a positive effect of accelerating the development of the plant. No retardant effect was noted, on the contrary, there is a stimulating effect. Potatoes with Sercadis dressing started harvesting for seed purposes 7 days earlier. "
XEMIUM® - strong SDHI-component at the heart of SERKADIS
The Sercadis treater is based on the active ingredient KSEMIUM (fluxapiroxad) - the latest development of BASF in the chemical class of carboxamides. BASF is a pioneer in the development of active substances of this class and preparations based on them. XEMIUM belongs to a new generation in the group of succinate dehydrogenase inhibitors (SDHI-fungicides). In the organism of the pathogen, XEMIUM suppresses the respiratory processes, as a result of which the fungus loses its food sources and dies.
Interestingly, XEMIUM has both water-soluble and fat-soluble properties. This is due to the peculiarity of the molecular structure. In practice, this allows the active substance to actively move in different environments. Due to its water solubility, XEMIUM actively moves in the cell walls and through the vascular system of plants, while its fat-soluble properties allow the substance to penetrate into the wax layer and fix there for long-term protection.
Convenience for production
Due to the universal properties of the active ingredient, SERKADIS can be used with any etching method. So, two main approaches are recommended: treatment of tubers (consumption rate 0,2-0,25 l / t) or spraying the furrow during planting (consumption rate 0,7-0,83 l / ha). The ways of using SERKADIS are illustrated in Figure 4.
The active ingredient SERKADIS is systemically distributed in the plant due to the unique combination of lipophilic and hydrophilic properties at the same time. This facilitates the gradual absorption of the drug from the mother tubers and the root zone of the tuber plant into seedlings, stolons and newly formed tubers. This ensures long-term and highly effective protection of potatoes from diseases.
The schematic diagram shows the options for setting the nozzles in the potato planter. Variant A (Fig. Above) - the nozzles are directed in such a way that the drug hits only the tuber, which ensures complete coverage of the tuber with the active substance. The consumption of the drug is calculated based on the norm per ton of tubers (0,2 - 0,25 l / t). Option B (Fig. Below) - nozzles are set to spray the tuber and tubers after leaving the planter. This approach allows you to more thoroughly cultivate the soil around the tuber. The rate of SERKADIS in this case is calculated based on the recommendations for the consumption of the drug per hectare (0,7 - 0,83 l / ha). The use of SERKADIS according to both schemes shows the same biological effectiveness, and the choice of the etching method depends on the characteristics of the technique and practices on the farm.
N. V. Donets, agronomist of Valmiks LLC (Moscow region):
“In general, the potato plants with the SERKADIS dressing looked more powerful, the yield of the marketable fraction was higher, the setting of tubers was 5% or more in different variants on different varieties. Attention is drawn to the colossal development of the root system, especially the secondary roots, which affects the nutrition of the plant. "