The undetected presence of seed- or soil-borne diseases in peas can seriously reduce germination and emergence and, ultimately, crop quality and yield. For a crop that continues to grow in demand, protecting yield potential for growers across Western Canada is paramount.
“Protecting peas against diseases makes agronomic sense for both the farmer and for the industry, as diseases have an impact beyond an individual farm,” said Russell Trischuk, Technical Marketing Specialist, Functional Crop Care, BASF. With Canadian pea production accounting for nearly half of global export trade, disease management is essential to protecting the crop and the revenue associated with it.”
A variety of diseases affect pea production, including: Mycosphaerella blight, Fusarium, Rhizoctonia, Pythium, Botrytis, seedling blight, powdery mildew, Sclerotinia stem rot, Anthracnose, Septoria blight and rust. Choosing effective crop rotations, using high-quality seed, seeding early and monitoring fields for symptoms are all part of a good disease management plan. It is also important to get seed tested for germination, vigour and disease presence.
The most important insurance against disease in peas is a seed treatment which is integral to a healthy crop when seeding into cool, wet soil – conditions common in Western Canada.
“Untreated seed can result in reductions in plant stand due to disease or reduced seedling vigour. Protecting pea seed with a fungicide helps defend against disease, resulting in a healthier crop and higher yield potential,” said Bruce Carriere, Owner, Discovery Seed Labs. “In fact, pea growers who treat their peas only have five percent loss from cracks and splits, compared to 15-20 percent loss with disease included.”
Insure Pulse gives growers a viable seed treatment option that is proving its value through higher yields in Western Canada field trials. It comes in a fast-drying, ready-to-use formulation that minimizes bridging or sticking issues. Growers can apply it directly to the seed without adding water or other adjuvants.
"This year we used Insure Pulse for the first time on our peas,” said Chad Halyk, Melville, Saskatchewan. “The formulation was really nice to work with and the dump and go of it when time is a factor really makes life a lot simpler as well as not having to do any calculations. The peas came up quite evenly and the vigour on the peas seemed to be outstanding.”
Insure Pulse is the first truly systemic seed treatment for peas. It combines Group 4 and Group 11 active ingredients, as well as the Group 7 active ingredient Xemium. This combination of active ingredients offers unique mobility properties, resulting in consistent and continuous disease protection. It also delivers AgCelence benefits, including increased vigour, biomass and emergence.
In pea field research trials conducted in 2015, seeds treated with Insure Pulse showed an average of 30 percent greater emergence compared to untreated seeds. On average, peas treated with Insure Pulse yielded four bushels per acre higher than those treated with a competing fungicide*. “These results should have growers rethinking how they seed peas in the future,” said Trischuk.
Source : BASF