In recent years, Russian vegetable growing has shown impressive dynamics of development. However, the cultivation of each vegetable crop is fraught with numerous difficulties, the most urgent of which is the fight against diseases that cause serious damage to the crop. Can crop protection products on the market ensure success in this fight?
RISK WARNING TACTICS
The first problem faced by domestic producers of vegetable products is the insufficient range of plant protection products registered in Russia. If only one herbicide is officially registered to protect garlic, is it possible to solve all the problems of growing this crop and ensure a consistently high yield? Manufacturers of other vegetable crops, in particular, carrots, also face a limited set of drugs.
Let's not forget that many crops are difficult to process. Cabbage and onions have a waxy coating that prevents the penetration of drugs into the depths of the plants, strong foliage interferes with processing in potatoes, and narrow and smooth leaves in onions and garlic.
Most diseases and pests must be fought with preventive methods. Preventing, not treating, symptoms that have already appeared is the best way to effectively protect vegetable crops.
Accordingly, a significant part of protective measures should be aimed at reducing the risks of the disease and identifying its symptoms at the earliest possible stage. As for the prevention of risks, the most careful attention should be paid to the quality of the treatments and their timeliness. You can not discount the effects of herbicides used in the previous culture.
And, of course, the selection of varieties and hybrids must be adequate to the existing soil and climatic conditions and the chosen strategy of agrochemical protection.
CARROTS - OUT OF DANGER
How to act to protect carrots from disease? To begin with, it is possible to reduce the risk of diseases even at the stage of pre-sowing seed treatment. Syngenta drugs such as APRON® and MAXIM® are well suited for this. Thanks to processing using FarMore technology, the seeds are protected from a whole complex of soil pathogens.
In addition, to reduce the risk of seedling rot development, it is necessary to avoid excess nitrogen and salts in the soil, soil compaction and crust formation, insufficient air ventilation in the root zone, mechanical damage to the roots or root collar. And the main fungicide for carrots should be CIDELI ™ TOP, a promising drug from Syngenta, registered on the Russian market in 2019. Its advantage is a completely new formulation based on lactic acid, which ensures full penetration of the drug into the plant. Thus, the most important properties of CIDELI ™ TOP include redistribution and getting into places that are difficult to spray. This was achieved due to the activity of the gas phase of the drug. The translaminar action of the fungicide is really powerful.
In addition to taking into account all kinds of risks, the vegetable producer must know well what diseases are characteristic of the crop he grows; what conditions are most favorable for the development of pathogens; be able to determine the symptoms of the disease and, of course, select effective means of combating it. The following diseases are most dangerous for carrots:
- Diseases of seedlings (root eater). Symptoms: decay of the root and submucosal knee in seedlings. Initially manifests itself in the form of glassy or brown spots, then it spreads and forms an annular interception. Finally, the root blackens and the plant dies. Pathogens: Pythium violae, P. sulcatum, P. ultimum, coloratum, Rhizoctonia sp., Fusarium sp., Alternaria dauci, A. radicina.
- Powdery Mildew Symptoms are different for different species: Leveillula taurica, L. Lanuginose is characterized by the appearance of yellow angular spots on the leaves, on the back of which a white powdery coating forms, after which the leaves dry out. The causative agent Erysiphe umbelliferarum immediately forms a white coating on the upper side of the leaf. Pathogens: Erysiphe umbelliferarum, Leveillula taurica, L. Lanuginose.
- Alternaria carrots. Symptoms: loss of seedlings, death of tops, rotted root crops. Pathogens: Alternaria dauci, A. radicina.
- White rot. Symptoms: the formation on the leaves (to the base of the petiole) of brown watery spots 5-10 mm in diameter. A white mycelium of the fungus appears on the base of the leaf, affecting the root crop, then sclerotia 5-10 mm are formed. The danger of white rot is that healthy root crops are re-opened in the storehouse. Pathogen: Sclerotinia sclerotiorum.
These are the main sources of danger for carrots, threatening significant damage to the crop. The effective protection scheme includes a number of agrotechnical measures using modern drugs. Fortunately, new plant protection agents are being introduced to the Russian market, which make it easier for growers to complete this task. Thus, in 2019 and 2020, Syngenta is completing the registration procedure for a number of preparations for protecting vegetable crops of the so-called “vegetable set”: RIDOMIL® GOLD R, ZIDELI® TOP, EFORIYA®, BOXER®, AMPLIGO®.
It can be said without exaggeration that due to this one of the main problems of carrot protection - the insufficient range of plant protection products - is close to being resolved.
ZIDELI ™ TOP has two main active ingredients. One penetrates first into the leaf tissue, then into the growing structures of the fungus, where it interrupts the biosynthesis of sterols in the cell membranes, as a result, the normal functioning of the cells is disrupted and the fungus dies. Another substance inhibits the formation of apressoria, the development of mycelium, the formation of spores and the growth of colonies.
The best way to use CIDELI ™ TOP is by spraying during the growing season. Consumption rate - 0,8-1.0 l / ha, working fluid consumption 200-300 l / ha. Efficiency for prophylactic use (before culture infection) - almost 100% up to 14 days; the effect remains stable up to 11 days after application. The main mistake of producers is to carry out treatments in the presence of visible symptoms on most plants. Such use of fungicides significantly increases the risk of drug resistance of pathogens.
The list of drugs with which ZIDELI ™ TOP is compatible is quite extensive. With proper mixing, such positive effects are manifested as an expansion of the spectrum of suppressed diseases, an increase in the action for controlling diseases in epiphytotic conditions, and resistance management. By the way, the risk of resistance in pathogens of major carrot diseases when using this fungicide is minimal. An important aspect: ZIDELI ™ TOP lacks phytotoxicity when using any registered doses of the drug. It is safe for both vegetable crops and entomophages.
Thus, after the appearance of the drug ZIDELI ™ TOP on the Russian market, many problems of carrot diseases will be much easier to solve. This fungicide not only protects carrots, it helps increase the productivity and profitability of agribusiness in general.
Head of technical experts in special cultures of Syngenta Olga Voblova:
- When growing carrots intended for long-term storage, it is very important to avoid stress that inhibits the growth and development of the plant. Otherwise, physiological processes will not end in the root crop, and the carrots will be poorly stored. This is another reason to pay special attention to the prevention and control of carrot diseases, as well as to carefully select the optimal remedies.
Syngenta is currently registering BOXER® herbicide for use on carrots and onions. I want to emphasize that on these crops, unlike potatoes, BOXER® is used as a postemergence herbicide, and the best efficiency is achieved with its fractional application (2-2,5 l / ha per intake). With this use, we take advantage of the most valuable quality of BOXER® herbicide - the ability to break down the wax layer on plants. By making tank mixes with herbicides already available on the market, it is possible to significantly expand the range of suppressed weeds and reduce the consumption rates of drugs that inhibit crop plants, and thus reduce the adverse effect on the crop.