UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH researchers are finding and validating new chemical and biological weapons in the battle against Fusarium, a fungal disease that has devastating effects on wheat and corn crops. CHEMICALS "Adepidyn is a relatively new chemical that could be useful to suppress or reduce Fusarium head blight (FHB) in wheat and Fusarium graminearumin corn and the toxins in both crops," says Dr. Dave Hooker, associate professor in the university's Department of Plant Agriculture. "We wanted to compare it to existing tools to evaluate its effectiveness." While Adepidyn — the active ingredient in Miravis Ace, a Syngenta product — has been on the market for a couple of years, previously, there were only a handful of fungicides available that all belonged to one class of chemistry called triazoles. The new product belongs to a different class Lois Harris Taking the fight to Fusarium ONGOING RESEARCH TO MITIGATE ITS IMPACT ONTARIO GRAIN FARMER 23 FEBRUARY 2023 Research continued on page 24 of chemistry that behaves differently on the plants. "We know that with any chemical product we apply, naturewill find a path of resistance," Hooker says, adding that, while right now, the incidence of Fusariumresistance is low, researchers didn't want it to get out of control. It is a big problem. The cost of FHB is high — an estimated $2 billion in losses in the U.S. between 1993 and 2001 and losses of $520 million in Canada in the 1990s. After the devastating fall of 2018, when high levels of DON mycotoxin infected corn fields throughout southwestern Ontario, Grain Farmers of Ontario estimated losses of $200 million to farmer-members due to discounted and rejected loads. Hooker and now-retired Dr. Art Schaafsma oversaw the project, forming the basis of Katiani Eli's successfully defended Ph.D. Farm barns to silos, 11,000+ farmers like you have one thing in common. They are understood, valued and insured by The Commonwell Mutual Insurance Group. Find a qualified broker in Commonwell Country today: commonwellcountry.ca/farm NOTHING SMELLS AS SWEET thesis. Ruoxi Xia was also on the team and obtained her master's degree in wheat. Both have published papers in the World Mycotoxin Journal. "In corn, the results were similar to the results with the triazoles," Hooker says. "On the wheat side, the results were as good, if not better than the triazoles." In fact, there was a bump in the wheat yield, and the crop stayed green longer through protection against premature senescence with the Miravis Ace than with the more traditional products. Studies began in Ridgetown in 2017 when the grain was inoculated with Fusarium, and favourable conditions for the fungus were maintained. During field scale trials,
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTQzODE4