Published on 23/11/2023
Words: BASF
The word of mouth after its first use in commercial crops is equally positive. Revylution also provides effective control of stripe rust.
The very high current global demand for wheat makes that extra level of protection against yield loss to fungal blights especially valuable. When using the right tool, it can be achieved with a single application.
The most efficient use of Revylution is all about appreciating the strengths and vulnerabilities of the various Group 3 fungicides – more commonly known as DMI’s or triazoles – now available, and using each of them to best advantage.
Revylution is powered by a ground-breaking Group 3 active ingredient, mefentrifluconazole, that BASF launched in New Zealand in 2020 as part of the coformulation Revystar®.
Mefentrifluconazole has a unique ‘isopropanol-azole’ molecule with a flexible triazole head that can mould its shape to fit the ‘pocket’ of the target fungal enzyme.
That flexibility allows it to adapt to mutations in the target pathogens and control strains of the target diseases that are less susceptible to other DMIs. Revystar has multiple registrations in both wheat and barley and quickly established itself as the preferred solution for Ramularia in barley – a very welcome big step forward in the control of a notoriously challenging disease.
Now Revylution means farmers have a more targeted tool for controlling some of the most damaging diseases in wheat and managing the broader challenge of fungicide resistance.
Older DMIs have been losing their efficacy year after year. Farmers generally apply DMI’s in tank-mixes that can disguise the fact that they are no longer having as much effect as the products they’re mixed with.
BASF has conducted trials where the various active ingredients have been used as solo sprays to get a clearer picture of their standalone performance.
Those trials provided substantial evidence that both prothioconazole and epoxiconazole have lost, to varying degrees, a lot of their potency as the target diseases have mutated in response to years of use.
Trial data collected shows that prothioconazole and Revylution were providing equally good control in 2017/18, but – in these trials at least– prothioconazole had become 25 per cent less effective just five years later.
The Revylution label allows multiple applications in each crop, but a single, well timed, application will deliver the greatest value in each season and for the longer term. The older DMIs can still be used in supporting roles.
The T2 application timing – from when the flag leaf is fully emerged (GS 39) through to booting (GS 45) – is the key one for targeting SLB and leaf rust.
So the recommendation is to use Revylution at that optimal timing. Using it at least once a year should knock out SLB while also ensuring that Revylution keeps working for plenty of seasons to come.
Bearing in mind both costs and the threat of resistance, the following is an ideal in-crop disease-control programme for wheat:
Revylution at T2, possibly in a tank-mix with SDHIs like Elatus® Plus or Vimoy Iblon®, with robust tank-mixes of prothioconazole and/or epoxiconazole-based solutions both before and after that (at T1 and T3).
That sequence will extend the disease coverage, provide rotation between the various actives within the triazole group, and target the various disease threats with appropriate fungicides.
A single application of the best solution to target the most potentially costly disease will be money well spent.
The yield losses from poorly controlled SLB could be as high as four or five tonnes a hectare. That means a fungicide programme with a total cost of at most a few hundred dollars has the potential to save thousands.
So we think Revylution is a very sound investment.