Bayer CropScience ran a series of Monceren stewardship workshops in partnership with Branston, Greenvale AP, McCain Foods and Team Sprayers last month.
The five regional events in February were attended by a total of 120 growers and planter operators who received training on the impact of Rhizoctonia on pre-pack and processing crops, stewardship measures to optimise application and calibration of Team on-planter applicators with Digimon control.
Greenvale agronomist Ben Naylor organised one of the workshops. He said: “It’s clear this is the way forward to ensure accurate application and engineer out the risk of operator exposure.”
In most years, around two-thirds of seed potatoes are treated to control seed-borne Rhizoctonia infection, which is the main cause of black scurf development on daughter tubers.
But Naylor added: “There’s a lot more to Rhizoctonia than just black scurf. Other symptoms that affect processing crops just as much as pre-pack crops include stem canker, causing variable emergence, and stolon pruning that directly affects yield. It can also be responsible for increased levels of misshapen, green or smaller tubers and reduction in fry quality.
“Monceren treatment counters these effects and increases marketable yield, but it has to go on right to get the best out of it. That’s why Greenvale was keen to support this stewardship initiative and show growers the advantages of moving to on-planter application.”
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