The emergence of cereal fungal diseases and the incidence of leaf spot diseases in Finland

Abstract

Fungal plant pathogens causing cereal diseases in Finland have been studied by a literature survey, and a field survey of cereal leaf spot diseases conducted in 2009. Fifty-seven cereal fungal diseases have been identified in Finland. The first available references on different cereal fungal pathogens were published in 1868 and the most recent reports are on the emergence of Ramularia collo-cygni and Fusarium langsethiae in 2001. The incidence of cereal leaf spot diseases has increased during the last 40 years. Based on the field survey done in 2009 in Finland, Pyrenophora teres was present in 86%, Cochliobolus sativus in 90% and Rhynchosporium secalis in 52% of the investigated barley fields. Mycosphaerella graminicola was identified for the first time in Finnish spring wheat fields, being present in 6% of the studied fields. Stagonospora nodorum was present in 98% and Pyrenophora tritici-repentis in 94% of spring wheat fields. Oat fields had the fewest fungal diseases. Pyrenophora chaetomioides was present in 63% and Cochliobolus sativus in 25% of the oat fields studied.

Crop losses due to diseases and their implications for global food production losses and food security

“…A field survey in 2009 identified the most important diseases in Finland to be fungal leaf spot diseases (D. teres, C. sativus and R. secalis) on barley, leaf blotch diseases in spring wheat, and oat leaf spot (D. chaetomioides) and other leaf blotch diseases (S. avenae and C. sativus) on oat (Jalli 2011). Powdery mildew and yellow rust were considered minor diseases.…”

“…Powdery mildew and yellow rust were considered minor diseases. However, Fusarium langsethiae on barley and oats and R. collo-cygni on barley were only recently identified, in 2004 and 2001, respectively, and are considered to be emerging pathogens also in the rest of Europe (Walters et al 2008;Jalli 2011). The average yield increase from fungicide use in four-year field trials was 11 % in barley and 13 % in spring wheat (Laine et al 2009).…”

Isolation and identification of Pyrenophora chaetomioides from winter oat in Hungary

“…In Europe, the imperfect stage of the pathogen was first found in the Pavia region of Italy in 1889 (Briosi and Cavara 1889), although the fungus usually has great impact in cool and moist climates of Europe and North America (Sivanesan 1987). In Finland, P. chaetomioides was observed in 60% of the oat fields in 1972-1973, and this high incidence had not changed by 2009 (Jalli et al 2011). The fungus was also common in Sweeden (Oloffson 1976).…”

Static yields and quality issues: Is the agri-environment program the primary driver?

“…Cassman and Harwood (1995) were concerned that if management, under the pressure of the prevailing economic-environmental framework, focuses on short-run profitability gains rather than long-run sustainability, it may be particularly hazardous for soil conditions that are hard to correct for later. Major agronomic changes, targeted or self-oriented, have included the introduction of notillage and reduced-tillage methods (Känkänen et al 2011), which depend on high glyphosate use (Helander et al 2012), and the movement toward cereal-dominated monocultures and insufficient use of fungicides (Jalli et al 2011). Increased farm size has increased distances to field plots, and timeliness costs, and has thus hampered farmers in carrying out management practices in a timely manner (Niskanen and Lehtonen 2014).…”