Written by Charlotte Cunningham
An often-overlooked cereal disease capable of causing yield losses of up to 30% could be lying unnoticed in more than half of English wheat fields, according to a leading agricultural researcher. Charlotte Cunningham reports. According to Dr Rumiana Ray, associate professor of plant pathology at the University of Nottingham, the fungus Rhizoctonia cerealis is traditionally associated with the stem base disease, sharp eyespot, causing lodging and empty white ears. However, research at the University has revealed it can also cause damping-off much earlier in the season, in which germinating seeds rot away in the soil, leading to reductions in crop emergence and plant numbers. “Rhizoctonia is a soil-borne risk,” explains Rumiana. “It is well known that other important seedling diseases associated with Microdochium and Fusarium species cause damping-off and reductions in plant stand, but we didn’t know Rhizoctonia cerealis can do the same.” Soil-borne risk A further study by the University of Nottingham of over 100 English wheat fields revealed that 54% contained Rhizoctonia cerealis in the soil. That rose to 57% in the North, while the Midlands had a massive 65% of wheat fields infected, and the East had 47%. “Ultimately, Rhizoctonia can cause yield losses in cereals of up to 30%,” she adds. “However farmers rarely, if ever,…
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