Five things you need to know about protecting cereals from early-season disease

"A successful cereal crop starts before the seed is planted. While early-season diseases often go unnoticed until harvest, the damage they cause can quietly limit yield potential long before symptoms are visible. That's why seed treatments remain one of the most important crop management decisions growers make - and why solutions like Lumiscend™ LUXE are raising the bar for cereal disease protection."

"Early-season disease starts before crop emergence Disease pressure can begin before planting, with seed-borne pathogens, and continue after planting as soil-borne pathogens infect the crop at germination. These early infections can limit root development, reduce stand uniformity, and weaken seedlings-often without visible symptoms. Because this damage occurs below ground and before emergence, seed treatment is the only way to reduce disease on the seed and protect the crop during its earliest growth stage."

"Fusarium and Rhizoctonia remain two of the biggest risks Fusarium and Rhizoctonia are among the most common and damaging cereal seed and seedling diseases. Fusarium, a seed-borne pathogen, is part of the seedling blight and root rot complex and can cause severe early-season disease. Rhizoctonia, primarily a soil-borne pest, attacks root tips, limiting water and nutrient uptake. Infected plants may appear stunted, uneven, or patchy, with pinched, underdeveloped root systems."

Early-season cereal diseases originate from seed-borne and soil-borne pathogens that infect seed and seedlings before or at germination, often causing root damage and weakened seedlings without visible symptoms. Such infections reduce root development, stand uniformity, and long-term yield potential. Fusarium and Rhizoctonia are among the primary threats, with Fusarium involved in seedling blight, root rot and later head blight, and Rhizoctonia damaging root tips and water and nutrient uptake. Seed treatments provide the only effective protection during early growth. Multi-mode-of-action seed treatments with multiple active ingredients, such as formulations including inpyrfluxam, offer broader, premium protection.

Read at Realagriculture