When to start the fungicide application program

Several aspects impact field conditions and, consequently, the productivity of soybean crops. There are factors over which you have no control, such as the climate, and others that correspond to management techniques. 

Disease management through the use of fungicides is currently essential for soybean production. With the growth of the crop in area, there is also an increase in disease pressure, which can significantly reduce productivity, with average losses between 20% and 30%, reaching 100%. The financial losses caused by diseases can vary from year to year, depending on the region and the climatic conditions of each harvest.
The complex of soybean diseases is broad and ranges from pathogens that settle in seeds, soil, aerial parts and those that survive in dead matter (necrotrophic fungi). Research in this segment has advanced a lot in recent years, so that currently the producer can protect his crop from sowing, through the use of seed treatment, which provides protection in the initial phase and helps in the uniformity of the crop stand, until the end of the crop cycle, with applications of foliar fungicides that may prevent or delay the progress of diseases.
When to start the fungicide program?

Among the main diseases that concern soybean producers, the greatest efforts to adjust fungicide programs are focused on Asian rust, which, historically, has presented the greatest potential for damage to the crop. However, in recent harvests, due to this focus, other diseases, such as leaf spots and anthracnose, have been relegated to the background. Keep reading...

Monica Paula Debortoli 
 Phytus Group
Ricardo Silveiro Balardin 
Phytus Group