Individual and combined effects of dosages of azoxystrobin and epoxiconazole in wheat

The effects of single fungicide applications on Mycosphaerella graminicola (septoria leaf blotch) control and winter wheat yield were evaluated in field trials conducted in central Belgium between 2000 and 2004. Individual applications of 25, 50, 75 and 100% of the manufacturer's recommended dose rates of azoxystrobin and epoxiconazole, and all the combinations of these treatments, were made at GS 39 in 2001 to 2004 and at GS 59 in 2000. Disease assessments were made at growth stage 75, some 7-8 weeks after the last applications. Between 2000 and 2003, no significant difference was observed for disease control between the products when applied alone. With regard to the dose responses, the differences between the recommended dose rates and the 50% reduced dosages were not important. In 2004, azoxystrobin was less effective than epoxiconazole. This was probably the result of strobilurin-resistant isolates of M. graminicola reaching an occurrence of 32% before fungicide application. The combination of different dosages of azoxystrobin and epoxiconazole revealed that there was very little synergy between these products when applied in a single application. The combinations of these products were better than individual applications only when high dosages of both compounds were used.