Singing the praises of Opera^®

Australia, Wednesday 9 February, 2011- Despite one of the wettest years on record, new fungicide Opera has shown its star qualities by protecting trial wheat crops in southern Australia from rust.

Trial sites at Coolamon, Gunnedah and Quirindi in New South Wales and Marnoo and Streatham in Victoria have shown not only increased yields and improved crop health, but also clear differences in how long the plots stayed green.

Local agronomists involved in the trials say the longer a plant stays green, the more time it has to photosynthesise, grow and put on yield.

Developed by BASF and distributed by Crop Care, Opera can be used against powdery mildew, leaf rust and both forms of net blotch in barley. In wheat, it controls powdery mildew and septoria, as well as the three rust diseases.

The trial at Coolamon, north of Wagga Wagga, illustrated the advantage of applying Opera at the heavier rate of 1000ml/ha.

Two applications of Opera at 500ml/ha produced a yield of 4.8 tonnes per hectare, while doubling the rate saw an increase to 5.5 tonnes.

Further north at Gunnedah, Pinnacle Agriculture agronomist Glen Pinn also compared 500 and 1000ml rates on a property owned by Peter and Debbie Maxwell.

Three 10ha plots were planted with Ellison wheat and three separate fungicides, including Opera, applied at recommended rates.

“There was a dead-set line down the middle of the plot that really surprised me,” Glen said. “We often do trials in different crops and it's hard to find a significant difference, but this one really stands out.”

John Newall’s property at Marnoo, between Rupanyup and St Arnaud, saw Opera initially applied to a 20ha plot of Derrimut wheat at 500ml/ha, with another 500ml applied later, just on crop emergence.

John said he was amazed at the Opera yields.

“The single-treated area went 6.1 tonnes to the hectare and 6.3 in the half that got the second treatment, while the comparison plot only went 5.4 tonnes,” he said.

“You could see the difference on the yield monitor straight away – it really jumped around. Unfortunately, the grain was downgraded to feed due to rain, but it was still a great yield."

About the Crop Protection division

With sales of 4.0 billion in 2010, BASF’s Crop Protection division is a leader in crop protection and a strong partner to the farming industry providing well-established and innovative fungicides, insecticides and herbicides. Farmers use these products and services to improve crop yields and crop quality. Other uses include public health, structural/urban pest control, turf and ornamental plants, vegetation management, and forestry. BASF aims to turn knowledge rapidly into market success. The vision of BASF’s Crop Protection division is to be the world’s leading innovator, optimizing agricultural production, improving nutrition, and thus enhancing the quality of life for a growing world population.  Further information can be found on the web at www.agro.basf.com or follow us on twitter: www.twitter.com/basfagro.

About BASF

BASF is the world’s leading chemical company: The Chemical Company. Its portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics, performance products and agricultural products to oil and gas. As a reliable partner BASF creates chemistry to help its customers in virtually all industries to be more successful. With its high-value products and intelligent solutions, BASF plays an important role in finding answers to global challenges such as climate protection, energy efficiency, nutrition and mobility. BASF posted sales of about €63.9 billion in 2010 and had approximately 109,000 employees as of the end of the year. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchanges in Frankfurt (BAS), London (BFA) and Zurich (AN). Further information on BASF is available on the Internet at www.basf.com or in its Social Media Newsroom at newsroom.basf.com. Visit us on asiapacific.basf.com or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, Slideshare and LinkedIn.