Wheat growers are set to get a new fungicide next season that promises the best septoria and rust control on the market, coming after the worst septoria season in decades and with rust rearing its head recently.

Agrochemicals giant Bayer is set to launch Iblon for 2024, from a new SDHI sub-class of fungicides. It has performance claimed to be as good as Revystar on septoria and as good as Elatus Era on yellow and brown rusts.

Greg Hanna, Bayer’s market development agronomist, emphasises its broad-spectrum disease control which, as well as being as good as anything else in the market for septoria and rusts, also shows good control of eyespot.

See also: How a world champion keeps his wheat free of disease

The product comes at a good time for wheat growers after they have struggled to control septoria this season due to such a mild winter and a wet spring, which may have been made more extreme by climate change.

“Iblon is showing good control of septoria, better than Ascra and for this year has shown better control than Revystar and on a par with Univoq,” Greg told Farmers Weekly at the Cereals 2023 Event on the Thoresby Estate in Nottinghamshire.

Greg Hanna © MAG/David Jones

New SDHI fungicide

Iblon is the technology brand pre-launch name for Bayer’s SDHI isoflucypram and will compete with existing SDHI-azole mixes such as BASF’s Revystar (SDHI fluxapyroxad + azole mefentrifluconazole) launched in 2020 and Syngenta’s Elatus Era (SDHI benzovindiflupyr + azole prothioconazole) launched in 2017.

It will also go up against Corteva’s Univoq (picolinamide fenpicoxamid + prothioconazole) launched in 2021, and is showing improved disease control compared with Bayer’s existing SDHI-azole product Ascra (SDHIs bixafen and fluopyram + prothioconazole).

The group says the new SDHI has a cyclopropyl ring on its nitrogen molecule at the centre of isoflucypram which significantly enhances its broad-spectrumn disease activity.

The new SDHI fungicide is set to be available with the azole prothioconazole in a twin or co-pack, and then further along the line in a co-formulation of the two fungicides.

Greg says the prothioconazole will add more control of eyespot and give good fusarium activity, and will complement the SDHI on septoria and yellow rust.

The product will be able to be applied only once in the season and Greg says that could be T1 if septoria and yellow rust are the key diseases, or T2 if septoria and brown rust are the main targets.

Trial results

Jonathan Blake, fungicide expert at crop consultant Adas, says isoflucypram is a good septoria product with strength on rusts too, and offers some flexibility on timing.

“In Adas trials, it has shown itself to be highly effective against both yellow and brown rust and offers some curative activity should an earlier fungicide application timing be compromised,” he said.

Patrick Stephenson, committee member at the Association of Independent Crop Consultants, says the product brings efficacy and stewardship benefits to the industry.

“Iblon brings another frontline piece of chemistry to the fungicide armoury that we can utilise in disease control strategies,” he says. “Its approval will help us maintain efficacy and provide additional protection to all our chemistry options.”

Iblon uses the same Leafshield formulation as Ascra, bringing with it similar benefits for adhesion, penetration, persistence and rain fastness.

The company also plans to offer isoflucypram co-formulations including fluopyram.

The fungicide was launched in New Zealand and been used there for the past two seasons. It is available in two different products – a straight SDHI of just isoflucypram and the SDHI in a formulation with prothioconazole.