Brought to you by Bayer Crop Science
Extra insurance premium against Fusarium
A simple practical test at their company? Jan Schoorlemmer and Niek Simmes of the Elandhorst partnership from Swifterbant are usually willing to do this. Last season they used the biological agent in their onions on a trial scale Serenade used against Fusarium. "We already had good experiences with the product in seed potatoes, where it shows a positive effect on the peel quality. That is why we are now curious about what Serenade against Fusarium in onions."
"There are a few thicknecks and a very few water sheet. But that shouldn't really have a name. This batch can remain for a long time without any problems," says Jan Schoorlemmer as he and Niek Simmes look over the heap of crispy onions. runs. The shipment of around 350 tons arrived at the beginning of October, just before the long rainy period. "It may sound strange now, but we deliberately left the onions a little longer after harvesting so that the soil could become a little more moist and the hard clods could soak up a bit. In the end, we were able to clean them nicely - just in time." loading and storing," says the arable farmer.
Looking back on the quite erratic onion season, both partners are not dissatisfied with the outcome. "If you consider that we only sowed in the third week of April and the growth was very slow after that, we cannot complain that such a good harvest has been achieved," says Simmes.
Vital and resilient onions
The company grows approximately 14 hectares of onions (yellow and red) every year. This happens in a rotation of 1-to-8. "We try to treat our soil as neatly as possible in all areas. This starts with ploughing; we prefer to do this early - although last season we only succeeded in January. The seedbed should preferably be ready in one pass, and we also aim very precisely for that. We do the sowing ourselves, which makes it easier for us to choose the right sowing time. With these preparations we hope for a smooth start and also for a vital and resilient crop, in which diseases and pests have as little chance as possible to develop." this is how Schoorlemmer describes their way of working.
To prevent problems with Fusarium as much as possible, fields have been sprayed with the product for a number of years shortly before sowing Rudis sprayed. Last year, the biological agent was also present there - in a number of lanes totaling one hectare Serenade added to. “The request for Serenade to be applied in onions came via our permanent advisor Erwin Boogaard from Agrifirm. He knows that we find it interesting and fun to participate in a test, as long as it doesn't cause us too much extra work. Moreover, we knew Serenade already, because we have been using it in seed potatoes for about five years now. In this cultivation it has an effect against scab and generally improves the peel quality. Because of these positive experiences, we are now also curious about what the product against Fusarium in onions can do," says Simmes.
Jan Schoorlemmer
'Hope that Serenade can break through'
Although they did not see any (visual) differences between the treated strips and the rest of the plot during the growing season (and the results of all practical tests have not yet been processed), Schoorlemmer hopes that biological agents such as Serenade can break through as an alternative to chemical agents. "For me, this is also a reason to participate in these types of practical tests. We now need to gain experience with alternatives to chemicals. These can be biological agents, but also new techniques such as spot sprayers or advanced hoeing techniques. For example, next year we will purchase a haulm puller for the haulm killing of seed potatoes. This also anticipates the expectation that spraying potatoes to death will become an increasingly complicated job."
Although both men emphasize that chemicals remain indispensable for farming practice for the time being, they are clearly open to 'comparable alternatives'. “If you want to give biological agents a chance of success, we have to start using them – even if only on a pilot scale. And all the knowledge we gain now may be very much needed in the future,” Schoorlemmer concludes. .
