Building on the success of two on-line resources launched last year, Adama’s Precision Crop Protection Hub aims to bring into one place key topical information on weed and disease control. CPM takes a look.
Tom Allen-Stevens
New online resources are available to help growers stay one step ahead of disease and weeds in cereal crops this spring.
Adama has launched its Precision Crop Protection Hub, which brings its resources together and follows on from the Seedbeds, Slugs and Stewardship Hub and Septoria Hub the company ran last year.
The aim of these ‘knowledge hubs’ is to bring into one place relevant material on a particular topic, says Adama. There’s a core of background information, which is then added to as the season progresses.
Updates provide an important part of the hub. These are provided weekly by email, and growers are required to sign up to receive them.
Within the hub, there’s a link to a resource page – essentially an online library of guides, videos and podcasts you can browse through to study a topic in more depth.
There’s also a blog, with advice and information coming from Andy Bailey, Adama’s fungicide technical specialist, and David Roberts, the manufacturer’s technical specialist on herbicides.
Integrated Disease management
There are two core information pages in the Precision Crop Protection Hub, with the one on Integrated Disease Management being of key interest.
“The choice, scope and efficacy of curative fungicides are coming under increasing pressure, both in terms of their effectiveness due to potential resistance, and their availability due to regulatory pressures,” notes Andy.
Ramularia in barley.
“Growers and agronomists can no longer rely on fungicides alone to provide adequate protection against common cereal diseases such as septoria and ramularia.
“Instead, the professional arable grower takes a wider ranging, integrated approach to crop management and disease prevention.”
And that’s what this page aims to provide – the components of integrated disease management step you through varietal choice, cultural control, disease forecasting and fungicide choice.
There’s a useful 2min video on the septoria life cycle and links to AHDB, ADAS, and Defra-funded resources.
Weed control
Likewise, the weed control core information page brings together a lot of information on herbicide resistance, how to plan a strategy and prevent weed seed return.
New is the spring cropping guide, and the page is bang up to date with some topical information to help growers address weed priorities this spring.
“As with fungicides, the number of available herbicide active ingredients is in decline,” says David.
“Combined with increasing resistance to ALS-based herbicides, weed control in spring sown crops is becoming increasingly difficult to achieve.
“This section of the hub will therefore encourage growers to maximise the effect delivered by existing chemistries.”
Our verdict
There’s a lot of information that’s been brought together in this hub – it’s valuable stuff and what Adama does well is to present it in a clear, crisp format with good use of video and graphics that help to re-instil that essential background knowledge.
Of course, there’s a heavy bent towards Adama’s products, but it’s not a bad thing to have these presented in context.
Coupled with the updates that’ll build as the season progresses, we reckon this is a service well worth signing up to.
