22.04.2015

India - Fire fury at it yet again, wheat crop over 100 acres destroyed

After facing large-scale damages to Rabi crops due to repeated spells of rain and hailstorm this season in the region, farmers for the past few days here are now coping with a new threat — that of dry and ready-to-harvest wheat crop catching fire.In the second such incident in just a couple of days, wheat crop over 100 acres of land was damaged in several villages across the district on Tuesday. Fire department officials said incidents of fire were reported from seven villages, causing major losses to farmers at Naruana and Balluana.In the first incident, crop over 20 acres of land was gutted at Balluana village near here. The crop belonged to Hardyal Singh (10 acres), Resham Singh (5 acres) and Ruldu Ram (5 acres).Two fire tenders of the Bathinda municipal corporation (MC) and one each from Gidderbaha and Malout civic bodies in Muktsar district were rushed to control the raging flames.At Naruana village, wheat crop over 80 acres was destroyed in a fire that engulfed the fields in the afternoon. Three fire tenders from Bathinda MC and one each from Guru Nanal Dev Thermal plant, Bathinda, and Gidderbaha MC were rushed to the spot.Wheat crop was also damaged over three acres at Deon and two-and-half acres at Manak village. Wheat crop in fields between Rai Ke Khana and Dhan Singh Khanna also caught fire late Tuesday.Bathinda tehsildar Iqbal Singh, under whose jurisdiction Balluana and Naruana villages fall, visited the latter to take stock of the situation. He said as per initial estimates crop over about 80 acres of land was damaged at Naruana while at Balluana the damage was over 20 acres.He said in the two villages (Naruana and Balluana), short-circuit in electricity wires resulted in the fire. He further informed that wires from a transformer were found in a field at Naruana, adding that only the officials of the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) would be able make the picture clear.He said that patwaris (low-rung revenue officers) concerned have been asked to conduct a survey of the damaged crop so that a report could be submitted to the deputy commissioner in this regard.The farmers who suffered major loss are Jarnail Singh (10 acres), Baldev Singh (9 acres), Lilla Singh (7 acres), Gurtej Singh (5 acres) and Malkit Singh (5 acres) besides others.Importantly, wheat crop over 80 acres at Gobindpura and Bhucho Kalan in the district and over 20 acres in Rauli and Chugawan villages in Moga was destroyed on Sunday.As per agricultural experts, average yield of wheat in Punjab is 20 quintal per acre. The minimum support price MSP) of wheat is `1,450 per quintal which means that in the fire incidents (including Tuesday’s) over 180 acres in Bathinda and 20 acres in Moga, affected farmers have suffered a loss of about `58 lakh.As officials of the fire station of the Bathinda municipal corporation, fire was reported at Balluana, Naruana, Deon, Mehraj, Lehra Mohbatt, Yoga Nand, Manak and near Dhan Singh Khana villages.Source - http://www.hindustantimes.com/

21.04.2015

USA - Hail can do major damage

Severe weather season is here and it started with a major outbreak of tornadoes earlier this month.Hail causes billions of dollars in damage annually to farm crops, shingles on roofs and hoods on cars. Damage from hail alone cost State Farm Insurance policyholders more than $2.4 billion last year. Claims were highest in the Midwest and Plains, with Texas leading the country with more than 50,000 claims last year alone.Source - http://www.thisweeknews.com/

21.04.2015

USA - Freezing temps spell doom for budding fruits

It wasn’t Friday night’s snow that wiped out the blossoms off of 10 acres of budding apple and pear trees in Clovis Romero’s Orchard in the valley of Embudo, about 45 miles north of Santa Fe.No, it was Thursday night’s spring freeze, when temperatures dropped overnight into the mid-20s, followed by Friday night’s freeze, when temperatures dropped to below freezing again.“We suffered, at a minimum, 90 to 95 percent of our trees over the past two days,” said Matias Romero, whose father has run the orchard since 1964. “Everything in full bloom was lost. By the looks of it, it looks like everything that wasn’t closed [buds] got killed off.”He wasn’t alone in his plight. Scott Canning of Galisteo said he lost all his fruit because of the freeze. “Cherries, apricots, apples and pears, all gone — I might have some buds that didn’t open on some of the pears, especially apples. If the buds didn’t open there’s still a chance,” he said.Canning, who serves as director of horticulture and special projects at the Santa Fe Botanical Garden, said it’s not snow but unexpected low temperatures that kill off fruit and plants. He said a similar “killing freeze” took place last May, wreaking havoc on plant life.About 3 inches of snow fell on Santa Fe between Friday night and Saturday morning. Most of it melted by mid-afternoon. The National Weather Service in Albuquerque is predicting a few more days of clouds and rain showers with temperatures that may hover around freezing at night.Source - http://www.freshplaza.com/

21.04.2015

Australia - Latevo's new multi-peril partner

Multi-peril crop insurance (MPCI) business Latevo has announced a new underwriting deal with specialist insurance business Assetinsure.Assetinsure is an Aussie-based company but has the backing of insurance sector goliath Swiss Re.Latevo chief executive Andrew Trotter said the deal would be a win for Australian agriculture.“We have been looking for an underwriter that shares our vision for Australian agriculture and has the capacity to deal with the catastrophic seasons that Australian farmers can endure,” Mr Trotter said.Last season, Latevo paid out claims down the east coast, following drought conditions in Queensland, NSW and Victoria.Previously, they had a deal with Allianz, but the two parties have parted ways, with Allianz to focus on its own MPCI product.But Mr Trotter was confident it was onward and upward for his business with its new partner.“Assetinsure, partnered with Swiss Re, delivers the best of both worlds for Latevo,” he said.Mr Trotter said with the Assetinsure deal official after months of negotiations, the focus was now on the upcoming winter cropping season.“We encourage people to get in touch with us now, the work in getting insured with our product is certainly upfront, but once their MPCI contract is in place, both the grower and their banker will be able to rely on the policy to provide sustainable income in circumstances where the season turns against them.”“The difference between us and other products is that once a policy is in place there are practically no exclusions.”“Our insurance solution is built on sound accounting assessments at the outset,” Mr Trotter explained.“This is the reason our product can be underwritten sustainably.”Assetinsure chief executive Gregor Pfitzer said he was delighted to be involved in the provision of a product he said was a step forward for the Australian grains industry.“The product is innovative and delivers an essential risk solution for grain growers in Australia,” he said.Source - http://www.theland.com.au/

21.04.2015

India - Tea industry launches pilot scheme with Israeli company to tackle drought

Drip irrigation technology offered by the Indian subsidiary of an Israeli company was being harnessed on a pilot basis in a few gardens in north and south India amid growing concern over crop loss due to paucity of rainfall.The Indian tea industry, especially the gardens in the north Indian tea estates in Assam and West Bengal, has suffered two consecutive years of crop loss due to drought like conditions in the first three months of the year. These two States account for 75 per cent of Indian’s annual tea output, which averages at around 1,000 million kg.The impact was severe in 2013, when nearly half the crop (amounting to nearly 20 million kg.) of the first quarter was lost to adverse weather conditions. This year, the impact is perhaps less but “what is worrisome is that it is a decline on a decline.. the trend is persisting and early estimates reveal that over a million tonne has been lost in March 2015 over the same month in 2014,” Monojit Dasgupta, Secretary General of the Indian Tea Association, the apex body of the north Indian tea industry told.He said that drip irrigation was being tried out on an experimental basis at certain tea estates with different agro-climatic conditions. He said that this was part of ITA’s initiative towards establishing sustainable farm practices at the tea gardens. “We have recently associated with the Netherlands (Utrecht) based Solidaridad for this,” he said.The organisation supports a network of nine regional centres, which pioneers, innovates and are transition managers in sustainable farm practices. The thrust really is on water-conservation and water-harvesting, Mr. Dasgupta said, adding that practices such as creation of water bodies, collecting water on roof tops of tea factories and ground water recharging would be addressed.While the January to March period was not one of high production, but the tea-season commences from March.And the production of some of the priciest teas commence during this period. Weather uncertainties worry the industry which has tried out methods such as ‘canopy irrigation’, which often leads to over irrigation of the plant leading to stunting and retarding of the root-system.Source - http://www.thehindu.com/

21.04.2015

Australia - Disease found on Queensland watermelon farm

Australia's melon industry body warns farmers need to be "paranoidly careful" to avoid spreading a disease that wiped out three quarters of the Northern Territory's watermelon industry.Biosecurity Queensland on Tuesday quarantined a watermelon farm in Charters Towers, west of Townsville, after finding the cucumber green mottle mosaic virus there.CGMMV is harmless to humans but affects cucurbit fruit species such cucumber, melons, watermelon, zucchini, pumpkin and squash, making it a threat to the state's $130 million cucurbit industry.It's the second major fruit disease scare in Queensland this year, following the discovery of the Panama Tropical Race 4 fungal infection in Tully and a second case in Mareeba.Australian Melon Association industry development manager Dianne Fullelove said CGMMV was just as big a danger to the state's $90 million melon industry and other cucurbit growers.She said the disease wiped out about 75 per cent of melon farming land in the Northern Territory since the first infection was confirmed in September last year and had spread to pumpkins, butter squash and cucumbers."It spreads from farm to farm very easily, so once you actually get it in plants, the mechanical transmission is quite easy, on wheels and boots and that sort of thing," she said."The on-farm biosecurity is just so important so it's really vital that they do that."We wouldn't want workers going from this farm to another farm using the same boots for example, without having them disinfected."CGMMV creates mosaic-like mottling on affected fruit and can cause the fruit to rot internally, become discoloured, show lesions or become malformed.Queensland chief plant health manager Mike Ashton said the case appeared to be isolated."We are moving quickly and working with the property owner to ensure the infection remains confined at this site," Mr Ashton said."We are hopeful the virus is not widespread in Queensland and we will be working to achieve eradication."BQ believes the Queensland infection could stem from the same crop of seeds they think spread the infection to the Northern Territory.Mrs Fullelove admitted the disease could be devastating for the industry if an outbreak became more widespread."In Israel they have 40 per cent (crop) losses," she said."They live with it on their farms and they do lots of practices to try and reduce the effect on their watermelon crops."An Israeli pathologist who was out here in January quoted 40 per cent losses and I really don't think growers can sustain that type of loss."Growers are urged to check their crops and contact Biosecurity Queensland to report suspected cases.Source - http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/

21.04.2015

India - Small farms get more disaster payments

Small and marginal farmers will receive more financial support, the government announced last week.Under the new initiatives, assistance for replacement of milk animals has been increased from $263 to $480 (Rs 16400 to Rs 30000) for buffalo/cow/camel/yak etc, Indian agriculture ministry said in a statement.In case of replacement of sheep/goat, the financial assistance has been raised from $26 to $48 (Rs 1650 to Rs 3000).Similarly, in case of replacement of draught animals,for camel/horse/bullock etc ,the quantum of financial assistance will be now $400 (Rs 25000), against of $240 (Rs 15000).For the replacement of calf/donkey/pony/mule, the financial assistance has been raised from $160 (Rs 10000) to $256 (Rs 16000). The assistance for land and other losses due to silting of agricultural land has been increased from $129 (Rs 8100) per hectare to $192 (Rs 12200) per hectare.It will also be applicable to removal of debris of agricultural land in hilly areas and restoration or repair of fish farms. In case of loss of substantial portion of land due to land slide, avalanche, change of course of rivers, the existing level of financial assistance has been hiked from $400 (Rs 25000) per hectare to $600 (Rs 37500) per hectare for small and marginal farmers.The Prime Minister has already announced that the farmers will now be eligible for input subsidy if 33 percent or more of their crop is damaged, as against earlier farmers used to get input subsidy only when the crop damage was 50 percent or more.The ministry also increased input subsidy on agriculture crops, horticulture crops and annual plantation crops from $72 (Rs 4500) per hectare to $108 (Rs 6800) per hectare in rainfed areas and restricted to sown areas. In the assured irrigated areas, it has been hiked from $144 (Rs 9000) per hectare to $216 (Rs 13500) per hectare.In case of perennial crops, the quantum of input subsidy has been hiked from $192 (Rs 12000) to $288 (Rs 18000) per hectare. For those, engaged in sericulture, the input subsidy has been hiked from $51 to $64 (Rs 3200 - Rs 4000) per hectare to $76 to $96 (Rs 4800 – Rs 6000) per hectare.The ministry also said that mow the norms of National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF)/ State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) will automatically be reviewed during April each year based on annual inflation derived from Wholesale Price Index and would be rounded off to next multiple of 100.The ministry has also directed the state governments to ensure faster processing of claims under the agriculture insurance schemes.Source - http://www.thecattlesite.com/

20.04.2015

Chile - Floods affected 5,000 hectares of fruit in Copiapo

Representatives of ASOEX and of the Association of Producers and Exporters of the Agricultural Valley of Copiapó (APECO) discussed the situation of the fruit sector in the Region of Atacama, specifically of the Valley of Copiapó.In this regard, Ronald Bown said ASOEX was supporting the farmers in Atacama, conducting meetings and coordinating with the authorities to find solutions soon, especially with regard to the channelling of the Copiapó river and different irrigation systems.He also stated that he, together with the Minister of agriculture, Carlos Furche and other authorities related to various services, would be visiting the Region of Atacama again with the purpose of analysing the producers’ situation and the coordination of actions on-site.For his part, Lina Arrieta, President of APECO, announced the results of the first diagnosis of the agricultural sector in the area. "The situation in the Region of Atacama is serious. Of the nine communes in the region, five were seriously damaged by floods and only four of them suffered mild effects. We perform a cadastre of 32 partner companies, including 8 companies that aren't part of APECO, but that are also within the Valley, for a total initial diagnosis of 40 producers and exporters, which allowed us to determine that there were around 2,000 people working the fields when the floods occurred, 22 of which suffered some kind of injury and, unfortunately, one of them died and another worker is still missing. In this sense, the first task of APECO, and of our partners, has been to contain and support our employees with food and shelter."The representative of APECO added that, at the moment of the floods, there was a total of 3,320 people hired by the 40 companies registered with them, and that 44 people had lost their homes, while another 203 people had partial losses. "We know it's very sad losing your home and your belongings, as they are the result of a lifetimes effort, so we will continue supporting our workers."Agricultural impactRegarding the productive field, Lina Arrieta said that, "the 40 companies surveyed have a total of 5,613 productive hectares in the Valley of Copiapó, 2,706 hectares of which were affected by the floods, i.e. 48% of the surface according to this first analysis."Arrieta added that 2,123 hectares, of the 2,706 hectares affected, could be recovered. "However there are 1,500 hectares that can only be recovered if the irrigation systems are fixed, as soon as possible, and the corresponding cleaning is carried out."According to the diagnosis of APECO, an important part of the 5,613 registered hectares are intended for the production of table grapes. Another part of the land is used for the cultivation of vegetables and olive trees, which were impacted virtually in their entirety."Currently, 100% of the production of vegetables in the Valley was affected by the floods and the figure is similar for the cultivation of olive trees, which leaves the vegetable producers in a bind, as they don't know if they can recover their activities," said Lina Arrieta.Regarding the fruit sector, Ronald Bown said: "One of the characteristics of the Valley of Copiapó is its early grape production, which represents a competitive advantage for Chile in international markets, but according to the study released by APECO the consequences of the rains and floods put this sector under great pressure, as a high percentage of the hectares planted with this crop was damaged, affecting the region's table grape production, as well as this sector's labour demand. Thus, our preliminary estimate is that the production of table grapes will be reduced by at least 30 percent, during the next seasons."NeedsAgriculture is one of the main poles of development in the Atacama Region, because it generates work, directly, to nearly 18,000 people in high season, and because it indirectly creates jobs in the service areas, transportation and other sectors. In addition, the region exports near 12 million boxes of table grapes annually to different markets in the world. All of which makes it urgent and essential to recover the Agricultural sector in the area."It will be very difficult to continue producing if we do not enable the irrigation systems, everything that has to do with the channelling of the River, the intakes, the parent channels. The Monitoring Board and the Ministry of public works are currently working on this. However, the community channels and the pumping systems inside the premises still require the adoption of measures, because almost 70 percent of the fields in the Valley of Copiapó are irrigated with underground water, and these systems were wiped out by the water and mud and were left unusable," said the unionist.Finally, it's worth noting that the President of APECO, together with other agricultural and irrigation leaders of the Atacama Region, held a meeting with the Minister of agriculture and Loreto Mery, of the National Commission on irrigation, yesterday, where they each unveiled the results of their respective diagnoses to better coordinate aids and the most urgent issues."I see a Minister that is quite sensitized with the issue, as he visited the region seven days after the flood, and saw firsthand the seriousness of the situation. We are confident that we will have the support and necessary coordination for our farmers. He announced the INDAP 2015 would condone the producers' debts and a renegotiation to 10 years of their credits. He announced they were going to destine money to help producers from 12 to 40 acres, and that there would be competitive grants through the CNR to support up to 15,000 projects UF irrigation," Arrieta said.Source - http://www.freshplaza.com/

20.04.2015

India - Haryana plans insurance corporation for farmers

With farmers facing heavy losses on account of crop damaged by freak weather conditions, the Haryana government on Friday announced bringing all growers under insurance scheme by setting up an insurance corporation.This is aimed at ensuring proper compensation for their crop loss due to adverse weather conditions.“We have plans to set up an Insurance Corporation on Public Private Partnership mode so as to bring all farmers under this fold whereby affected growers could get compensation for their crop loss,” Haryana Agriculture Minister O. P. Dhankar said here on Friday while addressing ‘Meet-the-Press’ programme.Mr. Dhankar said that the State government was in the process of identifying suitable insurance companies for entering into a tie-up to undertake crop insurance activity in the State.“We are studying various crop insurance polices in order to provide maximum relief to farmers for the loss suffered due to inclement weather conditions,” he said.To a query, Mr. Dhankar said that farmers, who had taken insurance cover against existing weather-based crop insurance schemes operated by other companies were not getting adequate compensation for crop loss. He further said that farmers were also not “much impressed” with insurance coverage provided by such companies.Source - http://www.thehindu.com/

20.04.2015

France - Destructive bacteria detected

The dreaded Xyllela fastidiosa bacterium which is blamed for the infection of tens of thousands of olive trees in southern Italy has been detected for the first time in France.Earlier this month, the French government imposed import restrictions on plants originating from the Salento region of Apulia (Puglia) over fears that it may spread to France.The French agriculture ministry’s fears have been realized with the detection of a coffee plant infected by Xyllela fastidiosa at a market in Rungis, a suburb of Paris. The minister of agriculture announced that the infected plants were confiscated from a wholesale market near Paris and that they entered the EU via the Netherlands from central America, allegedly the same route taken by the bacterium which has affected olive trees in Apulia.Authorities are investigating the exact origin of the infected plants and considering the next steps to be taken to control a possible outbreak.In a January 2015 study, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) warned that the Xyllela fastidiosa bacterium can spread to other countries in the European Union (EU) and cause significant crop damage and loss.The bacterium is spread by insects and cannot be eradicated by current means without killing the infected plant.Source - http://www.oliveoiltimes.com/

20.04.2015

Philippines - 468 Negros farmers get P2.2M insurance

A total of 468 farmers from 19 towns and 13 municipalities of Negros Occidental received P2.2 million as proceeds from the crop insurance program of the provincial government at the Panaad Park and Stadium in Bacolod City Saturday.Negros Occidental Gov. Alfredo Marañon Jr. said the distribution of the insurance fund is part of the Negros First Universal Crop Insurance Program. The insurance was given by the provincial government in cooperation with the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp., he said.The crop insurance covers farmers against losses from plant diseases, pest infestation, and natural calamities, reduces the impact of damage from calamities and attains food security and agricultural productivity.Excluding the amount distributed Saturday, a total of P20,169,210 has been distributed so far through NFUCIP covering 5,073.59 hectares of rice lands since the program began in 2011, records from the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist show.Aside from Marañon, the distribution was also led by Provincial Agriculturist Igmedio Tabianan, Pasig Rep. Roman Romulo and his wife, former councilor and TV host Shalani Soledad.Meanwhile, Marañon urged farmers who are dependent on water irrigation to be mindful of their colleagues and to shut off the canal to prevent water spill over.He said the operation in most irrigation systems in Negros Occidental is scheduled to ensure that all farmers will get their share of water supply.Source - http://www.visayandailystar.com/

20.04.2015

India - Hailstorm destroys apple, pear blossoms in Baramulla

Heavy hailstorm destroyed blossoming crops in many areas of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district on Sunday afternoon. The farmers and fruit growers suffered huge monetary losses.Hailstorm has badly affected Apple, Cherry and Pear blossoms which are in full bloom these days.Reports said that affected areas are Kandi, Kreeri, Wagoora, Chandoosa, Kachwa, Kawcheck, Puthkhah, Kanispora, Chandsuma, Singhpora, Najibaht, Nowpora, Tangmarg and other adjoining areas.“Apple, Cherry and Pear blossoms were seen lying on the ground due to heavy hailstorm that lasted for more than 5 minutes. This is a blossoming season and any undesirable change in weather has a bad impact on fruit crops,” farmers from Kandi said.Farmers in many villages in the district said there was huge damage to apple, cherry, walnut and pear crops. Farmers wore grim faces as undesirable weather often lays waste on their hard labor.The fruit industry is the main source of economy in this district and majority of the people derive their livelihood with the farming and agriculture.“We have already suffered huge monetary losses in September floods of 2014 and landslides in March this year, now again hailstorm has damaged our crop,” the farmers said.Farmers demanded that the horticulture department should conduct a survey so that the affected people are compensated. “The concerned department should make an assessment of the looses so that fruit growers can be provided compensation,” the farmers said.Source - http://www.risingkashmir.com/

20.04.2015

India - Rain-hit farmers to get Rs.5,400 per acre as compensation

The Telangana Irrigation Minister T. Harish Rao on Thursday announced that the TS government will extend the financial assistance to the unseasonal rain-hit farmers. Mr.Harish Rao announced that a compensation of Rs. 5,400 per acre for each farmer will be allotted by the government within a month period.The T-Irrigation Minister assured that the government comes to the rescue of all the farmers who have faced the crop loss, and they need not worry on it. He interacted with the farmers of Kurthivada village in Papannapet mandal and assessed the crop loss, along with the Endowment Minister A Indrakaran Reddy and Deputy Speaker M. Padma Devender Reddy.“The TS government has modified the regulations, and we will compensate to the farmers who incurred a loss of more than 33 per cent of the crop, unlike the previous government’s rule of paying the compensation only if the loss was more than 50 per cent. More farmers would be benefitted with the modified regulations,” Harish Rao said.The Irrigation Minister also informed that around 871 hectares of paddy and 3,000 hectares of horticulture crops were destroyed due to the unseasonal rains, and said the farmers who have incurred the losses can avail the input subsidy. Mr.Harish Rao also said that if a farmer dies due to adversities caused by crop damage, his kin will be given Rs. 5lakh. He asked the officials to display the list of farmers who have suffered crops loss at the panchayat office, and the ones who were missed in the list could apply immediately.Source - http://www.justtelugu.com/

17.04.2015

India - Only 5% of wheat crop has been harvested

The light showers that hit Karnal and adjoining district intermittently since Wednesday night have left wheat growers in the region worried about their crops.Farmers, who are already facing damages to their standing crops due to unseasonal rains this season, fear further losses due to delayed harvesting.According to official information, only 5% of the wheat has been harvested in Karnal while in Kurukshetra around 10% wheat has been harvested."This year, the harvesting has been being delayed in an unprecedented manner. Last year, nearly 50% wheat had been harvested by Baisakhi but the unseasonal rains have played a spoilsport," said Pradeep Meel, deputy director, agriculture, Karnal, on Thursday.Meel advised farmers against panic harvesting. "Farmers should wait till the weather is clear. It is very important that grain gets enough time to dry otherwise farmers may face problem in the mandis if the produce retains high moisture content," he said.Source - http://www.hindustantimes.com/

17.04.2015

Belarus - Losses winter rapeseed increased to 191 thsd ha

The losses of winter rapeseed in Belarus totaled 191 thsd ha, announced Vladimir Grakun, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food.According to him, the winter grain crops showed satisfactorily conditions after the winter period, the losses totaled less than 5% only. But winter rapeseed losses exceeded all previous expectations, and reached 191 thsd ha.Also, V.Grakun said that the Government made a decision to replant the perished rapeseed areas with spring rapeseed.Source - http://www.apk-inform.com/

17.04.2015

UK - Combinable crop update

The latest arable crop report from the Agricultural Development and Advisory Service (ADAS) reveals that winter drilled crops were in good condition at the end of March.The weather was mainly dry and mild with below average rainfall, allowing pesticide and fertiliser applications to be made and a start to cultivations ahead of spring drilling.ADAS is confirming that winter wheat crops were in good condition at the end of March with typical crops at the mid to late tillering stage.Control of black-grass and broadleaved weeds was good, although some spring germinating weeds were starting to emerge towards the end of the month. Septoria tritici blotch, mildew, yellow and brown rust were all present in crops at low levels. Most crops have received their first nitrogen application, with nitrogen being delayed to very forward crops in order to reduce lodging risk later in the season. Phosphorus, potassium and manganese were applied where needed.Most winter barley crops were drilled in the optimum September-October window and have established well. Typical crops were at late tillering by the end of March, with more forward crops at early stem elongation. Low levels of Rhynchosporium, net blotch and brown rust were present in crops. Mildew levels were variable. Most crops have received their first nitrogen.Source - http://www.farminglife.com/