Control of Asian rust with cutting-edge fungicides increases soybean productivity by up to 4 bags per hectare

The treatment of the soybean crop with the preventive and combined use of the fungicides Vessarya and Aproach Prima increases the productivity of the oilseed by up to 4 bags per hectare. This is evidenced by data collected in more than 450 experimental fields carried out by DuPont Crop Protection in the last harvest. The trials mainly compared the performance of the company's fungicide program to the standard treatment adopted by producers, and took place across the entire Brazilian soybean agricultural frontier.

According to DuPont's fungicide manager, agronomist Manoel Pedrosa, application of the program resulted in effective control of rust and other soybean diseases, such as target spot and powdery mildew, as well as end-of-cycle diseases. According to him, the average productivity of the company's fungicide program was 62,7 bags of soybeans per hectare, compared to 58,9 bags per hectare of the standard program or 'producer program'.

DuPont's experimental fields included 3 to 4 interspersed applications of Aproach Prima and Vessarya, depending on the stage of the crop. In areas of low rust pressure, for example, agronomists applied Aproach Prima pre-flowering. After 10 to 12 days, they applied Vessarya and after a 14-day break, Aproach Prima was applied again.

In situations of high disease pressure and in areas of later planting, 4 applications of the products were carried out, at intervals of 12 to 14 days, in the following order: Aproach Prima, Vessarya, Vessarya and Aproach Prima.

Active ingredients – Manoel Pedrosa attests that the success achieved in the company's experimental fields was due to the careful and structured application of the company's fungicide program. “Aproach Prima contains the most powerful strobirulin on the market associated with a Triazole. Vessarya results from a mixture of the active ingredients Picoxystrobina and Benzovindiflupyr. It is an innovative formulation, unique in the segment, which does not require the use of oils or adjuvants during application”, highlights the agronomist.

“We can say that Benzovindiflupyr from Vessarya is the most powerful carboxamide available in Brazil. Its efficiency in treating soybeans increases considerably when associated with a highly active strobirulin, such as Picoxystrobin. All the tests and research we carried out around the application of Vessarya, in a structured program with Aproach Prima, demonstrate with very consistent data how important the association of different products is in controlling rust”, continues Manoel.

The DuPont agronomist also explains that the company's treatment program contributes to the so-called fungicide resistance management, an essential practice nowadays with a view to preserving available technologies for managing soybean diseases.

“The application of multi-site fungicides is also necessary to control oilseed diseases. Treatments must always be preventive and respect the doses and application intervals specified in the leaflets. The producer must avoid more than two applications of carboxamide-based fungicides per soybean cycle. Other recommendations are respecting the sanitary void, planting varieties with genetic tolerance and a short cycle and the adoption of good product application technologies, as well as not planting soybeans in the off-season”, emphasizes Manoel Pedrosa.

According to Embrapa – Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation -, the costs arising from the incidence of rust in Brazilian soybeans are estimated at 2 billion dollars per year, covering expenses with fungicide applications and productivity losses. This amount is equivalent to approximately 7% of the gross value of Brazilian soybean production.