Vegetable growers know that producing high quality disease-free produce for the increasingly demanding retail sector is essential. Excellent broad-spectrum disease control is a must, but a greener and healthier looking crop will also attract both retailer and customer. It is in the brassica crop that Signum’s disease control and plant health effects will be of particular significance, says BASF.

“Recommended in Brussels sprouts, cabbages and cauliflowers, Signum gives excellent control of all the important brassica diseases - dark leaf spot and white blister plus useful control of ringspot. Both actives in Signum, boscalid and pyraclostrobin, also have activity on powdery mildew. This broad-spectrum control makes Signum a key brassica fungicide and one already well accepted by growers and retailers alike,” said Matthew Blaken, BASF field vegetable manager.

“When Signum was introduced in brassicas two years ago, it raised the bar when it came to disease control. In Brussels sprouts, a programme of Signum reduced the level of ringspot on the buttons from 26 per cent on the untreated down to just three pre cent and the level of white blister from 2.5 per cent on the untreated down to zero,” said Simon Townsend, Product Stewardship Manager for BASF.

“Perhaps one of the most significant benefits of Signum in brassicas is the stimulation of the plants’ own defences. Independent research by ADAS looked at the effects of pyraclostrobin on cucumber green mottle mosaic virus, tomato spotted wilt virus and xanthomonas campestris; a major bacterial disease of brassicas. Even though the fungicide is known to have no direct effect on these pathogens, pre-treatment of plants with a foliar application of pyraclostrobin significantly reduced the severity of all three diseases. This is believed to be due to the fungicides ability to trigger the plants’ own host-defence mechanisms against bacteria and virus infections. The plant appears to be primed by pyraclostrobin so that when pathogens attack, defence proteins are produced more quickly, allowing the plant to fight off the invading pathogen more effectively,” added Townsend.

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