Low fungicide rates and resistance

In a publication by Amaradasa and Everhart (Effects of sublethal fungicides on mutation rates and genomic variation in fungal plant pathogen, Sclerotinia sclerotium), dollar spot was found to be more likely to develop resistance to commonly used fungicides when low doses of the fungicides were used. The researchers did not test combinations of fungicides used at lower rates.

Using lower-than-labeled rates of pesticides has been shown to be a factor in the development of pest resistance in several situations. For…