When Rain Waters Down Your Crop’s Immunity

Crops are constantly exposed to various external and unpredictable factors that influence plant health, yield and quality. With too little rain, crops will either wither away or develop unevenly and quality and yield will decline. On the other hand, too much rain reduces respiration, damages roots and creates an environment for fungal diseases to flourish. To guarantee a successful growing season, it is the farmer’s task to manage the available resources, and even more so when they are in abundance. But a farmer can only do this when he has the right tools in his toolbox.

Manvert has been helping farmers around the world for more than 30 years with developing and accumulating the right ‘tools’ to produce higher yields and healthier crops, thereby positively impacting global food security. One of these tools is Manvert Miconic, a natural fertiliser formulated with organic acids and amino acids to aid crops during stressful periods, such as when fungal diseases are rampant.

Favourable conditions for fungal growth

While many farmers are rejoicing, and rightfully so, after good rains now is the time to be vigilant about fungal diseases. Every year fungal diseases destroy at least 125 million tonnes of the top five food crops worldwide (rice, wheat, maize, potatoes and soybeans). That’s about 4% of the total production.¹Excess moisture may create the perfect growing environment for fungal spores to proliferate and impact your crop’s yield and quality.

Fungicides are effective but cannot always be applied as a precautionary measure – these treatments are typically formulated to kill fungal growth and their spores, but it’s not a one-size-fits-all treatment. Before treating infected crops, the fungus must be correctly identified before application. Often a producer will only notice fungal disease once it has already started to spread and caused damage. The chemical treatments further can’t prohibit the disease from occurring, but only help prevent an outbreak. Another common problem experienced with fungicides is that fungal diseases can rapidly transform and evolve, rendering the available chemical treatments ineffective.

What preventative measures can a farmer then take?

Firstly, good drainage is important to ensure that excess water can filter away. Secondly, select cultivars, where possible, that are disease resistant. Thirdly, practice crop rotation that will prolong the period that the spores need to survive and lower the chances of fungal disease occurring. However, during excessive periods of rain and unpredictable weather all these precautionary measures might not even help and that’s when Manvert Miconic is useful.

Manvert Miconic can be applied at any time during the growing season and especially in periods of stress. Amino acids and organic acids, such as those in Miconic, are thought to play a role in strengthening a plant’s natural immune system. Various studies are in the process of better understanding this process and how to harness this function to support agriculture²today. We advise our clients to apply Manvert Miconic as a preventative measure and not as a reactive measure. Manvert Miconic can be sprayed with a reactive fungicide for a better result, the Miconic then forms a part of the plants natural immune system to help the plant to be stronger against any further infestation of the fungus.

Application

Miconic can be applied to vines, fruit trees, citrus, olive, vegetables, maize, sunflower and soya. It can be used as a stand-alone treatment or in conjunction with other Manvert products or your usual crop protection protocol. Manvert Miconic can be sprayed at a rate of 350 ml – 500 ml per ha with any compatible fungicide, with each fungicide application. Manvert Miconic can also be applied as a stand-alone preventative application, this rate can vary from 500 ml – 1lt per ha according to the type of crop or fungus, it can also be applied more than once if necessary.

For more information on Miconic or any other Manvert products, please contact your nearest Remitto agent today. Remitto is a proud stockist of the Manvert range in South Africa.

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