Mildew in Sunflower : Comprehensive Protection Strategy

How to Spot Mildew in Sunflowers: Early Signs and Effective Strategies

Sunflowers can fall victim to mildew, a pervasive issue that hampers their growth and yield. Recognizing the early signs of mildew in sunflowers is crucial for effective management and prevention in subsequent farming cycles.

Early Indicators of Mildew in Sunflowers

1. Growth Delay in Seedlings: Sunflower seedlings infected by mildew exhibit noticeable growth retardation. They appear stunted or ‘dwarfed,’ which is an early warning sign.
2. Discoloration of Leaves and Cotyledons: The cotyledons may turn yellow. Additionally, you might observe lighter green patches on the leaves.
3. White Fungal Growth: The underside of leaves often shows a white, felt-like growth. This is a significant indication of mildew as it represents the sporulation stage of the fungus. These spores are responsible for secondary infections and create inoculum for future outbreaks.
4. Systemic Infection: Mildew in sunflowers is systemic, meaning it progressively invades the plant’s tissues. This results in characteristic dwarfism due to shortened internodes.

Effective Strategies to Shield Sunflowers from Mildew: Insights and Approaches

Mildew poses a persistent threat to sunflower crops, capable of lingering in the soil for up to a decade. Even minor outbreaks contribute to a long-term reservoir of disease inoculum, making prevention and control essential for sustainable sunflower farming. Here, we delve into proven strategies and considerations to fortify sunflowers against this formidable pathogen.

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Integrated Protection: A Multifaceted Approach

Despite these challenges, controlling mildew is still achievable with a coordinated implementation of various solutions, ensuring long-term crop security.

Primary Defense Strategies:

1. Crop Rotation: Ensure sunflowers are not planted more than once every three years in the same field.
2. Agronomic Practices: Implement good agricultural practices to reduce the inoculum reservoir. This includes managing regrowth and weeds (like Xanthium, Ambrosia, and other composites) and avoiding seed germination during heavy rains to limit infections. In essence, no waterlogging, no mildew!

Complementary Measures:

These agronomic measures should be combined with a long-term approach, focusing on:

1. Varietal Selection: Choose sunflower varieties based on their genetic resistance profile and resistance to mildew.
2. Seed Treatment: Consider the use of anti-mildew seed treatments

Tailored Field-Specific Planning:

This approach must be customized for each field, taking into account its specific history:

• Have there been mildew attacks in the last five campaigns?
• What varieties (genetic, RM profile) have been cultivated?
• Were anti-mildew seed treatments used?

A long-term, field-specific strategy that considers the situation, variety, and seed treatment can help preserve both the effectiveness of the varieties’ resistance and the chemical solutions.

HelioSMART as genetic Innovation

HelioSMART hybrids are the results of a breeding program with the best disease tolerance and high yield performance against main sunflower diseases, in particular mildew, verticillium and sclerotinia. HelioSMART increases the yield until 12%.

Disease Management for Sunflower Cultivation

At MAS Seeds, we believe that good agronomic practices go hand-in-hand with genetic innovation. In order to offer you the best varieties, our R&D team have developed the HelioSMART sunflower portfolio.

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