The Effect of Previous Crop Residues and Tillage on Fusarium Head Blight of Wheat

Abstract

Effects of previous crop residues and tillage practices on Fusarium head blight (FHB) of wheat were examined. Fusarium head blight was monitored in plots of the FHB-susceptible spring wheat cultivar Norm following crops of corn, wheat, and soybeans in 1995, 1996, and 1997. Moldboard plow, chisel plow, and no-till treatments were imposed perpendicular to crop strips to establish a range of residue levels in each of the previous crop residues. Fusarium head blight incidence and severity were greatest when wheat followed corn and least when wheat followed soybeans. Incidence and severity were lower in moldboard plowed plots than in either chisel plowed or no-till plots, although differences among chisel plow and no-till treatments were not apparent. Yields of wheat were approximately 15% lower in plots where wheat followed corn or wheat than in wheat following soybeans and were 10% greater in moldboard plowed plots than in either chisel plowed or no-till treatments. The deoxynivalenol (DON) content of harvested grain was significantly correlated with FHB incidence and severity. The DON level in wheat following soybeans, averaged across tillage treatments, was 25% lower than in wheat following wheat and 50% of the level in wheat following corn. These findings suggest that changes in regional tillage practices, principally the move toward conservation tillage and reduced-till systems, contributed to the recent FHB epidemics in the Upper Midwest. Because differences in the type and quantity of crop residues in small plots affected disease development, it is likely that local sources of inoculum, such as those within a grower's field, contribute directly to the inoculum load and disease potential. The implication of these findings is that selection of cultural practices aimed to reduce inoculum-borne residues will assist in the control of FHB.

Predicting Fusarium Head Blight Epidemics With Weather-Driven Pre- and Post-Anthesis Logistic Regression Models

“…5. [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] for identifying zero and near-zero predictors; vcd (ver. 1.2-12) for visualizing mosaic plots; subselect (ver.…”

“…During the last two decades, U.S. wheat experienced large direct production losses because of FHB (35,36) and even larger indirect losses in other sectors of the economy (43), contributing to the characterization of FHB as a reemerging disease of importance (36,53). Increased corn (Zea mays) production in wheat-growing regions, concurrent with wider adoption of reduced tillage for soil conservation, were likely contributory factors to severe epidemics beginning in the latter part of the 19th century (36,60), as pathogen survival in corn residue is an acknowledged FHB risk factor (13,27). FHB epidemiological research includes (i) basic documentation of epidemics and observed weather conditions at the time, a mainly descriptive effort, followed by quantification of optimal (usually controlled) conditions for various epidemiologically relevant processes (7,14,45,59,62,63); (ii) synthesis of basic epidemiological results into generalized, qualitative risk algorithms predicting FHB epidemics (47,59,63); and (iii) translation of the generalized risk algorithms into quantitative risk models (10,12,18,25,32,34,39,41,58), several of which were reviewed elsewhere (55).…”

Occurrence of Fusarium head blight of barley in Slovakia

“…The low value of FHB in Soblahov 2011 can be explained by soybean as a pre-crop. Recent studies on the effect of previous crop residues on FHB development also demonstrated that the incidence and severity of FHB was greater when corn is followed by wheat and lower incidence when soybeans is followed by wheat (Dill-Macky, Jones, 2000). The pre-crop flax was used in Veľké Úľany in 2012.…”

Effect of soil tillage practices on severity of selected diseases in winter wheat

“…Marie Váňová, CSc., Zemědělský výzkumný ústav Kroměříž, s.r.o., Kroměříž, Česká republika e-mail: vanova.marie@vukrom.cz of residues on soil surface (Sturz and Bernier 1987, Summerell et al 1990, Wang 1996, Miller et al 1998, Dill-Macky and Jones 2000.…”