Advertiser content
DeCyst open day 2023 showcases herbicide trials progress
Provided by
CHAP is one of the four UK Agri-Tech Centres of Innovation. We bring together scientists, farmers, advisors, and pioneers to advance crop productivity and yield in the UK and beyond.
Attendees were greeted by bumper crops of DeCyst™ Prickly and Broadleaf, two potato cyst nematode (PCN) trap crops grown by host Neil Furniss and the team at Produce Solutions, showcasing impressive project progress to date.
The open day event hosted near Newport in Shropshire attracted potato growers, agronomists and stakeholders from across the supply chain, who were shown the latest progress made by the Innovate UK-funded project in their second year of on-farm trials.
This year, in particular, has seen remarkable progress, thanks to promising findings regarding suitable pre- and post-emergence herbicides that can be used with trap crops to enhance their early competitive abilities, with the possibility of extended usage in the future pending extensions for use.
© Chap
Dr Bill Watts, Project Lead and Trials Manager at Produce Solutions summarised the project work: “Our project focuses on understanding the factors affecting trap crop success.
“Ensuring the DeCyst™ seed is shallow-drilled into moist soil with some consolidation for seed-soil contact is critical to success; a follow-up residual herbicide such as aclonifen (Emerger®, Bayer) guarantees low weed competition until full groundcover (extension of authorisation pending).”
Part of the consortium, growers J.M. Bubb, J. Foskett Farms and T.C. & N. Taylor, have been focusing on optimising the best drilling practices to ensure the successful establishment of these challenging crops.
Field-scale trials have demonstrated that, despite being a small-sized seed, common combi-drills offer an excellent option for drilling the trap crop seed; possibly by raising moisture levels in the seed-bed thus encouraging germination.
Another option is using precision vegetable drills where available, with Nick Taylor reporting favourable results with a precision-drilled seed mix of DeCyst™ Prickly & Broadleaf.
As an organic grower, the lower level of soil disturbance with this technique also limits weed seed germination, keeping the crops clean.
Alternatively, Shropshire-based grower John Bubb, has seen promising results with inter-row planting of DeCyst™ combined with clover and buckwheat in a standing crop of wheat, which flourished after combining, giving complete ground cover.
Collectively, these efforts have accumulated compelling evidence on optimising the performance of trap crops and their integration into current farming systems.
But getting the crop drilled is only half the challenge – next is ensuring good seed-soil contact, due to the smaller seed size and the drier conditions frequently experienced during the typical sowing window of May to June.
Depending on the conditions, this might involve some consolidation to optimise germination and subsequent biomass growth.
Dr Ivan Grove of Curious Raven Ltd., who has been using unmanned aerial vehicles to record biomass in the trials, reported: “Ground cover and crop volume has benefited little from using additional heavy flat rolls post-sowing this year due to sufficient early rain after sowing.”
“However, using Cambridge rolls post-sowing is always recommended to consolidate the seed-bed for good soil-to-seed contact and reduce moisture loss.”
Once establishment has been achieved and the weeds under control, the goal is to maximise crop biomass to ensure high trap cropping potential.
Additional management is needed to help reach the ideal target of >700 g/m sq or >7 t/ha for DeCyst™ Prickly ensuring a high root density and sufficient exudate release to stimulate PCN hatch; work is ongoing to identify ideal biomass requirement for DeCyst™ Broadleaf and other species.
© Chap
Graham Tomalin of VCS Potatoes Ltd. commented on the nutrition trials undertaken in the East of England this season: “We’ve been looking at the canopy development across the three DeCyst™ species following applications of potash and phosphate at drilling, whilst also experimenting with the use of poly ammonium phosphate in comparison to standard granular Triple Super Phosphate (TSP).
“Although not yet complete, preliminary observations indicate that phosphate is important to maximise crop biomass.”
In parallel with the trial and current efforts to optimise the existing commercial products, DeCyst™ Prickly and Broadleaf, the consortium has also been working on a new trap crop product known as DeCyst™ Podium (Solanum chenopodioides – tall nightshade).
Researchers, Dr Matthew Back and Dr Kasia Dybal, have been delving into the efficacy of this new upcoming product, while the wider consortium has been exploring how best to grow in the field.
Dr Matthew Back, reader in Nematology, and Dr Kasia Dybal, researcher in Nematology, from Harper Adams University added: “To date we’ve examined PCN (Globodera pallida) multiplication within two glasshouse experiments when grown with and without the DeCyst™ Prickly, Broadleaf, and Podium along with potato and fallow controls.
“So far, this has shown how higher biomass led to a greater reduction in PCN, with Broadleaf resulting in >75% reduction and 50% for Podium.
“We’re now moving on to see if this is also true for the other PCN species (G. rostochiensis).”
Ideas for the future
Overall, the open day proved to be a resounding success, with attendees engaging in discussions around their experiences with trap crops as well as thoughts on the project.
For those who were new to trap crops, the event offered a great introduction into the topic area and left them with some interesting thoughts and ideas for the future.
Together, the event and project highlight the role of trap crops as part of an integrated pest management (IPM) approach to PCN, particularly when stacked with other tools such as rotations and conventional management practices.
Dr Alex McCormack, Innovation Sector Lead in Agronomy for project partner CHAP, said: “This is a great example of how public funding enables true cross-sector collaboration and synergy by combining the skills, expertise and experiences of growers, agronomists, consultants and researchers to accelerate on-farm innovation.
“I’m eagerly looking forward to the next steps, where we will be working on creating a comprehensive grower agronomy guide and producing high-quality video materials to broadcast the message to growers and agronomists.
“So, stay tuned and keep an eye out for upcoming developments.”
For more information about this project, contact CHAP at enquiries@chap-solutions.co.uk or follow us online for project updates, including an upcoming video of the event and discussion.
Our Project Partners: