Investment

Powdery mildew is a disease that impacts mungbean crops annually and if left unmanaged can cause yield losses of up to 40%. With little genetic resistance in current varieties, management relies on the application of fungicides. There are, however, some inconsistencies in the various communication materials available with regard to current recommendations for fungicide application. While all suggest applying a fungicide at the first sign of disease, the requirement for a second spray is less consistent. In addition, a meta-analysis of 26 powdery mildew trials (Melloy et al, 2021) showed that delaying fungicide application by a week after onset of disease did not adversely impact yield and a second spray was not always required. A decision support tool (DST); PowderyMildewMBM (based on data from these same disease management trials) was released in 2019 to help guide fungicide application decisions and the likely economic returns from those actions. However, there is low awareness of the tool and limited uptake by industry. There is value to be gained by establishing a further set of validation trials and actively engaging agronomists and growers with in-field disease management utilising the outputs of the decision support tool.