•
BAYER VEGETABLE CONFERENCE
•
THE
VEGETABLE
FARMER •
MARCH 2017
added Tim. The company is also
still working to extend approval
for Movento for thrips control
on onions and aphid control on
potatoes, but an outcome is
not expected in time for this
season.
Newproducts
When it comes to fungicides,
Folicur will not be supported
going forward because of
insufficient market support and
generic tebuconazole
alternatives. A new product
containing the second
generation SDHI compound
fluopyram+ trifloxystrobinwill
have a wide crop spectrum but
is not expected to gain full label
approval for vegetable crops
until 2019. It has performed
well against sclerotinia on
lettuce when used in a
programme with ContansWG,
and showed a strong
performance against brassica
diseases including light leaf
spot where it performed as well
as themarket standard Rudis.
On carrots, trials show that
foliar applications of Serenade
ASO six weeks after drilling
could provide similar levels of
cavity spot control to both
metalxyl-M and soil
incorporation of Serenade, yet
could be up to 60 per cent
cheaper thanmetalxyl-M. “If
you’ve not tried Serenade for
that purpose, you probably
should do,” stressed Tim.
Bayer is alsoworking on a
new nematicide, a liquid
formulation of the SDHI
fluopyram currently known as
AR83685, which has been
shown to be effective against
PCN, free-living and
root knot nematodes
while having a good
toxicology profile. In
trials it reduced
damage in the
presence of free-living
nematodes when
incorporated into the
soil immediately after
sprayingwhere the
cropwas drilledwithin
two days. “More work
is needed to determine
the optimum
incorporation depth,
etc,” says Tim.
“However it gives
control almost as good
as Vydate. There is a
lot going on andwe’ve
got some fantastic
products coming forward in
due course.”
BRAVOproject
With different funding
sources, it is not always easy to
keep abreast of all the latest
agricultural researchwhich
could have an impact on
vegetable production, so it was
useful to hear Dr Rachel Wells
of the John Innes Centre
provide an overview of the
BRAVO project. BRAVO, or
Brassica & Rapeseed Vegetable
Optimisation, is a five-year
project whichwas officially
launched by BBSRC in January.
Although she pointed out that
there can be quite a gap
between genetic research and
its practical application by
producers, typically around 15
years depending on the crop,
she feels the scope of the new
project could provide numerous
benefits to growers.
“It’s a longway from us to
getting to the fields, but the
researchwe do today is going
to improve our world for the
future,” she stressed. “Brassica
is an economically important
crop and for us the time is ripe
for brassica biology.” However,
she added: “It’s really important
to see where research fits into
the industry. It’s only youwho
can tell us what your strategic
needs are.”
Workingwith breeders, other
researchers and the Oilseed
Rape Improvement Network
and the Vegetable Brassica
Improvement Network, both of
which have received
considerable Defra funding, the
project will study the genetics
behind particular crop traits and
aspect s of plant phenology and
see how these can be
manipulated to improve
establishment and vigour, crop
timing, forecasting and yield.
Additional projects at John
Innes focus on the key traits
behind pest and disease
management, as well as issues
such as pod development and
resistance to pod shatter in
oilseed rape.
Drone technology
As well as having improved
crops in the future, the way in
which growers and agronomists
monitor andmanage is also
starting to change. Jonathan
Gill of Harper Adams University
gave an overview of drone use
and technology. “There are
many different drones for
different uses, but generally so-
called first generation drones
have cameras on them,” he
explained.
This, together with UK licence
requirements, has so far limited
their use to data collection and
mapping activities, such as the
creation of soil maps and
checking crops for
establishment or issues during
growth. However, as drones
could provide a significant way
to avoid soil damage and
compaction, Jonathan is
adamant that the technology
will develop.
In the United States, one
manufacturer is already offering
a service for hard to reach
areas, such as vineyards, where
its staff will operate a remote
controlled drone helicopter to
apply crop protection sprays.
However, the company has no
plans to bring the service to the
UK and current UK legislation
would prohibit the use of
agrochemical application by
drone. Another issue is that
current rules on drone use
mean that it is almost
impossible to create one with
sufficient payloadwithin the
weight limits set by the Civil
Aviation Authority. “There is
currently no evidence to prove
that using a drone system to
apply agrochemicals is as
efficient as tried and tested
hand or boom sprayers,”
Jonathan added. “There is
currently no evidence as no one
has done the work, but Harper
Adams is working so that we
are in a position to be able to
carry out trials.”
One possible stepping stone
in that journey towards drone
applicationmay be the ‘Hands
Free Hectare’ project which
aims to grow a hectare of
barley this year without anyone
setting foot directly in the field.
“All the agronomy information
will be gathered from drone
systems and passed to
agronomists,” he explained.
Cultivations and other
operations, including spraying,
will be carried out by a
modified remote control Iseki
tractor, and a small remote
combine has just been obtained
for harvesting the finished crop.
Full details and updates on the
project can be found at
26
Dr Rachel Wells of the John Innes Centre.
Jonathan Gill of Harper Adams demonstrating a drone.
