Strobilurins increase production in high-yielding wheat crops

The strobilurin azoxystrobin applied to a high-yielding wheat crop in Mid Canterbury in 1998 resulted in significant yield increases. The increase was independent of any fungicidal effect, and increased linearly with the amount of strobilurin applied. There was weak evidence that later applications (GS59, anthesis) were more effective than earlier ones (GS39, flag leaf fully emerged). The main reason for the yield increase was that a larger green leaf area was maintained during senescence, and hence more radiation was intercepted. Because these effects occurred late in grain filling, they resulted in larger grain.