Pulse producers can manage heavy disease burden in 2022

However, speaking at the Southern Pulse field day at Murra Warra, north of Horsham earlier in the month pulse breeders and pathologists said that with a diverse strategy including varietal choice, paddock selection and a mixed seed treatment and foliar fungicide program growers will be able to successfully grow pulses next year in spite of high loads of disease inoculum.

Jason Brand, Pulse Breeding Australia, said the cool and wet spring had played a massive role in the virulence of disease.

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"It was not a new and more damaging isolate of diseases such as ascochyta blight," Dr Brand said.

"Instead, the conditions where we have been the near constant fogs or skiffy showers and the lack of drying weather in between rain bands has been the key driver of the disease spreading the way it has," he said.

"We've seen less severe disease loads in northern crops where there has been less constant cloud cover and rain."

"The season has been different to another wet year 2016 where we saw the really heavy rain condensed into a shorter period in mid-spring, this year we have had quite significant rain events right through the spring period when fungal diseases are really active."

Dr Brand said there had been rare instances of disease appearing this year.

"When I started in Horsham I got told by long-time chickpea researcher Jenny Davidson from SARDI not to worry about botrytis grey mould in chickpeas as it was not a problem, she had only seen it once in all her time, but we've observed it in southern chickpea crops this year."

He said this year there had been difficulties in getting paddock access which had made in-crop fungicide application difficult.

"It highlights the importance of boosting disease resistance with genetics and then going out with a fungicide seed treatment, which gives you critical protection at a time of year when it is often wet."

In terms of fungicide efficacy Dr Brand said the best results had been achieved by the newer products.

"Those that invested in those newer fungicide products really saw a difference in efficacy this year which has proved important in the context of the season as people were unable to get out and spray as often as they liked because of paddock access issues."

Looking ahead Agriculture Victoria plant pathologist Josh Fanning said growers would have to be aware of the risks of disease next year.

"If you're storing seed for sowing make sure you get the best sample with the least amount of disease," Dr Fanning said.

"Paddock and varietal selection will also be important in terms of keeping disease pressure as low as possible, given there will be so much inoculum around from this year," he said.