Mathematical model revolutionizes the fight against fungicide resistance!

Mathematical model revolutionizes the fight against fungicide resistance!

An international research team has developed a mathematical model to calculate the costs of fungicide resistance in plants. Fungicides, used to control fungal diseases, play an essential role in agriculture. However, excessive use of fungicides can lead to the development of resistant pathogens. This not only represents a challenge for farmers, but also has far-reaching economic consequences.

This model combines the spread of fungal diseases in multiple fields with modern economic analysis methods. Chaitanya Gokhale from the Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg was involved in the study, the results of which were published in the journal PLOS Sustainability and Transformation on June 27, 2025. Loud uni-wuerzburg.de The economic costs of fungicide resistance are context dependent, meaning that yields can both increase and decrease. Particularly high costs arise from pathogens with medium invasiveness.

Influence of biological factors

The total costs increase with increasing resistance and loss of yield of the plants. These factors depend crucially on biological aspects: the level of resistance within the pathogen population, the basic reproduction number of the pathogen and the loss of field yield due to fungal infections. The model is intended to help policymakers and farmers develop sustainable fungicide measures. The objective includes not only securing yields, but also reducing the use of chemicals and ensuring long-term food security, such as farmer-media.com reported.

Additionally, Gokhale highlights the complexity in determining the true economic costs of fungicide resistance. The international research team, including scientists from the University of Reading, the University of Cambridge and the University of Berkeley, believes that future data collection and empirical studies are necessary to verify the study's findings. It is important to closely monitor the changes in resistance development and their influence on yields.

Challenges of resistance management

Managing fungicide resistance requires more than simply avoiding specific resistance. The availability of azoles has decreased, making future fungicide use difficult. Overall, there is general cross-resistance between the different groups of active ingredients. Recommends in this context agrar.bayer.de to use mixtures of non-cross-resistant partners to achieve complementary effects. An example is the mixtures of the SDHI active ingredients bixafen and fluopyram, which can represent a promising strategy.

Net spot and Ramularia isolates with relevant mutations are particularly common in barley, which is why solo SDHIs cannot be used due to these mutations. The future of strategy in vegetable and cereal crops will require sustainable practices to overcome the challenges of resistance. Innovative fungicides will play an increasingly important role in agriculture.

In summary, the research highlights the urgent need to develop responsible and sustainable fungicide management to protect both economic yields and the environment.