Syngenta Thrive - 1Q/2013 - 13

Beyond
Drought
If there is a silver lining to the lack of rain in 2012,
it’s seeing the potential of water optimization.
By Linda Kane

B

Sarah Puls, grower,
and Dave Mills,
Syngenta sales
representative,
examine the dry
soil on her farm in
New Holland, Ill.

y some accounts, growing corn in
2012 was like “putting plants in a frying
pan.” A lot of sleep was lost—and a lot
of character was gained—as U.S. agriculture
weathered the worst drought in 56 years. For
many growers, it was a particularly harsh
reminder of just how much agriculture relies
on water to produce crops. For others, it was
an eye-opening look at how far the right
combination of genetics, crop protection and
management can push the envelope of crop
production under moisture stress.
“We had some nice rains early on but not
a drop after mid-June, and we still had some
fields that made their best yield ever,” says
Gary Plunkett, a grower and seed dealer in
central Iowa. Despite the heat and alarming
lack of rain, his corn after soybeans produced
180 to 200 bushels per acre.
Plunkett is not alone. U.S. corn growers
collectively pulled a silver lining out of last year’s
drought, producing an average corn yield of 122
bushels per acre. It’s a hard drop from last
year’s average of nearly 153 bushels per acre,
but it’s also nearly a third more than the corn
crop produced during the 1988 drought.
“It’s still kind of hard to believe, given the
growing conditions we faced,” says Plunkett.

Pooling Resources
David Elser, head of water optimization at
Syngenta, is not as surprised. “Individual
advances in seed treatments, fungicides, traits
and other technologies are helping crops use
water more efficiently,” says Elser. “But the
biggest gains in crop per drop are coming
from multiple strategies applied throughout
the growing season.”
Elser points to the combined effect of
CruiserMaxx® Corn 1250 insecticide/fungicide
seed treatment, followed by Quilt Xcel®
fungicide, as a prime example. In addition to
providing crop protection, these complementary
technologies encourage root mass, reduce plant
transpiration and keep plants greener longer.
“Every year, we’re learning more about how
to push the envelope of water optimization,” says
Eric Tedford, Ph.D., technical product lead for
fungicides. He points to new research on
azoxystrobin, the active ingredient in Quadris®
and Quilt Xcel fungicides, as one example.
Researchers at University of Nebraska and
Kansas State University found that corn grown
under suboptimal irrigation could yield 15 to 25
bushels more when treated with Quilt Xcel.
“What’s even more interesting,” says
Tedford, “is that suboptimal irrigation plots

PHOTO: NICK BURCHELL

1Q/13 · thrive · 11
Syngenta Thrive - 1Q/2013

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