The Agrii team has been working with the British Carrot Growers Association to identify potential control options to control Crown Rot in crops stored in field over the winter under polythene and straw. 

Crown rot is caused by a soil disease complex which makes it particularly difficult to identify workable control solutions for. Agrii ran a screen of potential conventional fungicides and bio-fungicides of differing modes of action.

The trial was applied with 2 applications in September before being strawed down in early October. Agrii also looked at cultural controls including topping the foliage post fungicide applications.

Picture of trial plot after 2 foliar fungicide followed by topping.

The trial was harvested on 18th April 2024, the trial showed 2 treatments to be most effective. One was a double application of Switch which is the current standard for control.

The other treatment that showed a very comparable level of activity to Switch was Boni-protect a bio fungicide based on Aureobasidium pullulans currently used to control storage rots but that can be used in open fields.

The trial proved beneficial in supporting the current control strategy but also identifying a potential product that could be used to support Crown rot control in carrots. 

Discussions regarding application for an EAMU for Boni-protect are ongoing with the manufacturer.