With soya bean rust being the nemesis for Brazilian farmers in the same way that Septoria tritici and yellow rust are for UK growers, a farm manager from East Anglia has won a bespoke trip of a lifetime to South America to see how farming systems differ, and how they keep on top of major disease challenges.
As part of the UK launch of their powerful, new, SDHI fungicide, Elatus Era, Syngenta launched a competition at the Cereals event last year, offering one lucky winner the chance to travel around Brazil, where Elatus Era was first launched in 2014.
Jim Scarratt, who manages 2,600 acres of arable land on behalf of EW Porter and Sons, in Norfolk, will be taking a farmer friend with him to see what lessons can be learnt.
They will have the unique chance to fully experience the expanse of Brazilian agriculture and the many different farming systems in the country, through farm tours and visits to regional research centres. All courtesy of Syngenta.
“I’ve never been abroad to specifically look at other types of farming systems before, so I’m really interested to see how they manage the climate, pests and diseases, terrain and soil types, as well as learning about the different business outlooks,” says Mr Scarratt.
“I never usually win anything, so when Gillian, our Syngenta area manager, called me to say I was the winner, I was in complete shock, but I’m so grateful to have the chance to go on a trip of such scale.
“It’s going to be a great opportunity to learn from others, and bring home new ideas about how we could be doing things slightly differently here,” he says.
Elatus Era was first registered in Brazil for use predominantly on soya beans, and was a real step up for the control of soya bean rust. It’s performed extremely well, and has proven itself as vital in protecting such a high value crop grown on a major scale.
“We know that Elatus Era can deliver exceptional disease control, as has been seen across the world and in extensive trials across the UK and Europe. And nowhere better showcases this than Brazil, where they have had three seasons of experience,” says Andrew Curtis, fungicide campaign manager for Syngenta.
“This trip is an opportunity to see how farming systems differ across the world, and how they deal with different challenges such as disease and pest pressures.”
