Pest Control
Last updated on
February 23, 2014
Weeds
Insects
Diseases
Methods of Disease and Insect Control
GENETIC CONTROL
- Resistant Varieties
- Grow one or several pure line varieties
- Multiline varieties have a mixture or blend of several resistance genes
AGRONOMIC CONTROL
- Crop rotations
- Good planting practices - planting date, rate, etc
- Weed Control - before & after planting
- Use clean seed
- Destruction of residues - more of a problem with conservation tillage
- Destruction of alternate hosts Buckthorn - CR Barberry - SR
CHEMICAL CONTROL
- Fungicides - Tilt, Bayleton, Dithane, etc
- Seed treatments - Vitavax, Captan, etc Insecticides for specific insect problems
Hessian fly
Seed winter wheat when the danger of APHID and HESSIAN FLY infestation is past
Aphids and Barley Yellow Dwarf
Disease resistance tends to break down at high fertility levels, so FUNGICIDES are
an important component of ICM Types of fungicides
Determining the "ECONOMIC THRESHOLD" for applying fungicides is difficult
-
If diseases develop late, a heavy infection may not reduce yield and quality of
grain significantly
-
If diseases develop early, quality and quantity of grain yield can be reduced significantly
- Some diseases reduce yield and quality more extensively than others. If diseases
that are known to cause significant reductions in plant performance develop by 10
days to 2 weeks after heading, spraying with fungicides is likely to be profitable
SEED TREATMENT FUNGICIDES
Protect against seed-borne and soil-borne diseases - Vitavax, Apron, Enhance, Maneb,
etc
FOLIAR FUNGICIDES
- PROTECTANTS will protect plants from infection, but will not eradicate a disease
if it is already in the plant
- ERADICANTS (SYSTEMIC FUNGICIDES) will eradicate a disease if it is present in plants
and will protect plants from subsequent infection depending on rate of application.
Tilt and Bayleton are examples of SYSTEMIC FUNGICIDES
Fungicides differ in effectiveness on specific diseases
- Ex: Rusts and mildew - Bayleton is more effective than Dithane M-45
- Septoria - Dithane M-45 is more effective than Bayleton