Experiments on the control of cereal smuts with a derivative of 1,4-oxathiin

Abstract

The new cereal seed dressing Vitavax, a systemic fungicidal dust based on 2,3-dihydro- 5-carboxanilido-6-methyl-1,4-oxathiin, controlled seed-borne common bunt of wheat, seed- and soil-borne flag smut of wheat, and covered smut of oats in glasshouse experiments. Its chemotherapeutic efficacy was demonstrated on wheat bunt using post-infection soil drenches. Vitavax was ineffective on loose smut of wheat and barley under semi-artificial conditions. Vitavax was toxic to wheat seedlings only when applied in a soil drench (0.02 per cent active ingredient) shortly after transplanting, but the surviving, severely injured plants recovered quickly indicating rapid elimination of the phytotoxicant. In in vitro germination tests on wheat Vitavax was safer than the standard fungicide Ceresan.