Bayer's Aviator fungicide shines bright in oilseed rape launch in the UK

Aviator is now available in oilseed rape, giving growers a new effective option for tackling Sclerotinia and light leaf spot at flowering this season in the UK.

 

An already established cornerstone in cereal fungicide programmes, Aviator combines prothioconazole and the SDHI bixafen, which provides added benefits to disease control and crop physiology, with around three weeks of protection from early to mid-flowering.

 

In 2019, 10 Judge For Yourself farmers trialled Aviator against their farm standard flowering spray. Aviator outperformed the farm standard in all 10 trials, with the greatest yield benefit being 0.4 t/ha.

 

Andrew Williamson was one of the Judge For Yourself growers who took part in the trial. His trial compared Aviator against his farm standard Filan paired with azoxystrobin.

 

“The result was positive for Aviator,” he says. “We gained 0.2 t/ha above the farm standard programme. Financially that’s quite a big gain. On the current prices of oilseed rape, it equates to roughly £70/ha in favour of using Aviator.” 

 

 

Aviator benefits from the patented Leafshield formulation system, helping both active ingredients simultaneously attack diseases on and inside the leaf.

 

Leafshield also promotes the spreading and drying of actives, which is particularly notable on the waxy leaves of oilseed rape, as demonstrated by a study from Silsoe Spray Application Unit.

 

Using time-lapse photography, Silsoe compared the speed and spread of multiple flowering spray products on oilseed rape leaves. The study found that Aviator spread the quickest and covered the greatest surface area of all the trialled products – demonstrating how the Leafshield formulation helps you maximise Aviator’s performance.