Effect of fungicide treatment on yield of winter wheat and spring barley cultivars

Analyses of the results of 21 winter wheat and 32 spring barley trials showed that cultivars differed significantly in their yield response to a standard fungicide treatment. Responses were also strongly influenced by differences between sites and between years. Regression analyses showed that responses were significantly related to reductions in foliar disease, particularly that of mildew, although the proportion of variance accounted for was small. Measurements made on seven winter wheat trials indicated that the percentage of leaf area remaining green after anthesis was increased by the fungicide treatment to a greater extent than could be attributed to reduction in foliar disease alone. In one of these trials, yield response was more closely correlated with the increase in leaf area remaining green than with reduction in foliar disease.