Wheat yields in the EU may drop without triazole fungicides

A resounding drop in yield and a loss of income is what EU’s wheat producers can expect if the EU goes ahead with the ban on the triazole fungicides. This is the result of an investigation carried out by senior scientist Lise Nistrup Jørgensen from Aarhus University in collaboration with scientists from the United Kingdom and France.

The results will be presented at the 2012 Plant Congress on 10-12 January in Herning.

- A ban on the use of triazole fungicides can mean that we will have problems with the control of particularly Septoria in wheat in the future. There will be considerable losses if no replacements for the triazoles are found, particularly for Septoria, and the possibilities for implementing an anti-resistance strategy will be much weakened in all countries, points out Lise Nistrup Jørgensen.

The reason why the EU is taking an interest in the triazoles is because they are suspected of being endocrine disruptors. Officials in the EU are in the process of preparing specific guidelines for evaluations of endocrine disruptors and a number of pesticides are expected to be banned as a result.  

As this is likely to affect a number of the azole fungicides, scientists in Denmark, United Kingdom and France have examined the potential consequences for the control of fungicides in wheat. And the ban will clearly lead to a reduction in yields.

In Denmark the expected yield reduction as a result of fungicidal infections – mainly of Septoria – will be five percent (252,258 t/year).

The disease Septoria relishes humid conditions and often cause the highest losses in areas with high rainfalls. The United Kingdom and France will thus experience considerably larger losses than Denmark. The yield reduction is expected to be 6.8 percent in the United Kingdom (1,006,808 t/year) and 8.7 percent in France (2,753,285 t/year).

In monetary terms, the total loss for wheat producers will be, respectively, €34m, €157m and €408m in Denmark, the United Kingdom and France. The loss is mainly due to the expected problems with Septoria.

Main results of the consequences of a ban on triazoles. Calculations use a wheat price of DKK100/hkg:

	Denmark	UK	France
Area with wheat (1,000 ha)	683	1,890	4,865
Avg. yield (t/ha)	7.3	7.8	7.1
% loss with no fungicides	7.3	19.6	25.8
% loss with no triazoles	5.0	6.8	8.7
Benefit of triazoles, avg. of 10 years (€/ha)	62.5	145.1	154.3