Using fungicides to increase corn yield may only pay off if a crop already has signs of a fungal disease or is at high risk to get one, according to a Purdue University expert.

Kiersten Wise, an Extension specialist in field crop diseases, said fungicides have the best chance to increase yield when fungal diseases are, or have a high risk of, infecting a crop. But Purdue studies in 2008 showed that yield wasn't increased enough to make use of fungicides profitable in crops that seemed healthy

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