The incidence of wheat crown rot depending of agronomic practices

Abstract

Wheat crown rot is a harmful disease that can be caused by different pathogens. The control of this disease is complicated because of the diversity of pathogens and an insufficient efficacy of fungicides; therefore, the agronomic practices of wheat production are an important tool for reducing the disease development. The aim of this study was to estimate the incidence of wheat crown rot depending on soil tillage system and on the pre-crop of wheat in the year 2016. The field experiment was carried out at the Research and Study farm 'Peterlauki' of the Latvia University of Agriculture in the autumn of 2008. The data obtained in 2016 are analyzed in this study: A -soil tillage system: 1 -traditional soil tillage with ploughing at the depth of 22 -24 cm, 2 -reduced soil tillage with disc harrowing up to the depth of 10 cm; B -pre-crop of winter wheat: 1 -wheat, 2 -oilseed rape, 3 -faba beans. The incidence of crown rot was not influenced by soil tillage system, but the impact of pre-crop was significant (p = 0.006). The level of disease was essentially higher in continuous wheat sowings. The experiments showed that the main causal agents of the disease were Fusarium spp. and Oculimacula spp. The spectrum of pathogens was not dependent on a particular agronomic practice.