Some claim that fungicides can boost corn yields, but Ohio State University researchers say that they have found no consistent link between fungicide use and corn yield when disease pressures are low.
Researchers with the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center tested six hybrids with various levels of resistance to gray leaf spot and northern corn leaf blight at two Ohio locations. Half of the trials were sprayed with a fungicide and the other half were left untreated.
With disease levels low - no higher than 12% for gray leaf spot and 6% for northern corn leaf blight - researchers found no differences in yield to fungicide applications between treated and untreated hybrids.
Pierce Paul, an OARDC plant pathologist, says that in the absence of disease or under low disease pressures, rather than using fungicides in an attempt to boost yields, farmers would be better served using an Integrated Pest Management approach to foliar diseases. IPM is an approach to crop production that specifically controls a pest or disease while minimizing impact on the environment.
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