SAES-422 Multistate Research Activity Accomplishments Report
Sections
Status: Approved
Basic Information
- Project No. and Title: NCERA_OLD184 : Management of Small Grain Diseases
- Period Covered: 10/01/2009 to 09/01/2010
- Date of Report: 05/07/2011
- Annual Meeting Dates: 04/17/2011 to 04/20/2011
Participants
[Minutes]
Accomplishments
The objectives of NCERA 184 are to: 1. Facilitate collaborative research on current and
emerging diseases of small grains. Specifically: a) The integrated management of Fusarium head blight b) Fungicide efficacy trials for diseases of small grains c) Epidemiology and risk management d) Screening of uniform regional nurseries for resistance to economically important pathogens e) Studies of the population biology of small grain pathogens f) Develop disease and economic threshold models to improve foliar disease management in wheat g) Stem rust surveillance and preparation of stem rust race Ug99.
2. Promote the exchange of information, techniques, fungicide efficacy results, disease resistant germplasm and pathogen cultures among small grains researchers in order to coordinate the development of integrated management strategies for important diseases.
The efforts can be seen through a combination of short term outcomes, outputs, and other activities that integrated our two core objectives.
Short term outcomes include: (1) improved understanding of the integrated use of rotation, cultivar resistance, and foliar fungicides for control of Fusarium head blight and deoxynivalenol; (2) new working knowledge that the use of foliar fungicides applied at jointing are not warranted and that the best applications for foliar disease control occurs when applied at flag leaf emergence; (3) a coordinated effort to continue to improve our knowledge of the efficacy of foliar fungicides for control of foliar and flowering diseases - this provides growers the most unbiased piece of information regarding expected control; (4) a high level of communication amongst the members of NCERA-184 to provide real-time knowledge of diseases affect wheat across the production region - in particular, there is a high level of communication for rust and Fusarium head blight as well as electronic methods to disseminate this information; (5) the members of NCERA-184 provide samples to the USDA to improve our knowledge of the race and virulence determinants of the different rust diseases.
Outputs: (1) there are numerous refereed and extension-oriented publications involving members of NCERA-184 (see publications list); (2) Foliar fungicide efficacy table that is updated annually based on observations and data obtained from coordinated and individual trials across the small grain production region; (3) ScabSmart, a web-based tool to provide information about Fusarium head blight in wheat and barley; (4) the U.S. Wheat & Barley Scab Initiative Fusarium Head Blight Prediction Center, a web-based platform that provides risk maps and commentary regarding the likelihood that Fusarium head blight will occur; (5) a reporting system for rust diseases of small grains, coordinated by the USDA Cereal Disease Laboratory; (6) high use of email listservs amongst members of NCERA-184 to improve real-time communication to improve within-growing season knowledge of small grain diseases.
Activities: (1) several states have coordinated winter wheat workshops to improve stakeholder management decisions for wheat diseases in relation to wheat growth and development; (2) annual updates of the foliar fungicide efficacy table based on working knowledge and field trial data, including several coordinated fungicide trials; (3) coordinated field trials for fungicides and biological control agents for the management of Fusarium head blight; (4) workshops related to improving the knowledge of the risk of wheat stem rust strain Ug99; (5) coordinated efforts to provide within-growing season knowledge about the risk of Fusarium head blight.
Milestones: Key to improving the meeting of our core objectives is the continual use of coordinated activities since seasonal risk of specific small grain diseases is variable. With a continued decrease in the number of people working on small grain diseases, it is imperative that members of NCERA-184 continue to work collaboratively across the broadest geographical region to meet the needs of our stakeholders.
Impacts
- The NCERA 184 meeting continues to serve as an annual forum for small grain pathologists to exchange information on regional, national, and international diseases. The NCERA 184 committee helps drive collaboration among members in research and outreach activities. The large number of collaborative research and extension publications among NCERA 184 members is evidence that NCERA 184 helps drive this collaboration.
- Discussions among participants of the NERA-184 meetings have helped in the efficiency and accuracy of applied disease research efforts on small grain crops in participating states through the use of integrated research trials and dissemination of disease-related information to stakeholders.
- Communication is strong among the group and the means of communication have improved. The use of a wheat disease listserv (wheatdisease@listserv.ksu.edu) has been extremely high as well as the continued use of the cereal rust survey listserv (cereal-rustsurvey@ lists.umn.edu) during the growing season as cereal rusts are reported in each state. This high-level of communication among NCERA 184 members helps improve disease management recommendations in each state.
- Collaborative field research efforts among NCERA 184 members have shown that the best control of Fusarium head blight (FHB) is achieved through integrated management practices. This information has been used in Extension programs across several states, and growers are adopting these practices to reduce FHB.
- A multi-state Fusarium head blight disease forecasting system has promoted better stewardship of foliar fungicide applications by providing growers with information that can be used to help make fungicide application decisions based on the threat of disease. This web site was visit over 9,115 times (April August) when wheat was actively growing in 24 states. The estimated net value of the disease prediction system to U.S. wheat growers exceeds $47 million.
- NCERA 184 multi-state projects designed to investigate factors influencing the accumulation of DON in disease-free wheat grain, develop integrated management programs to minimize losses due to FHB/DON, and develop models to predict FHB/DON are ongoing.
- Small grain disease surveys conducted in many of the NCERA 184 member states provided information on disease occurrence, distribution, and potential effects on yield and quality.
- The information generated from the sampling of rust isolates (and race determination by the USDA-ARS-Cereal Disease Laboratory) are utilized to make informed recommendations to small grain breeders concerning the selection and introgression of effective rust resistance genes into elite germplasm and future varieties.
- Due to collaborative efforts of NCERA 184 members, new outreach materials are being developed to educate the public about important diseases. These include new educational materials being developed for the Ug99 strain of stem rust, and the development of a ScabSmart web site that contains the best Fusarium head blight management information available.
- The annually updated Foliar Fungicide Efficacy Table developed by the NCERA 184 Committee members continues to be utilized by Extension personnel, industry personnel, crop consultants, and growers. The development of this table has resulted in more accurate and realistic chemical control recommendations for small grain producers and has facilitated cost-effective disease management decisions in NCERA 184 states.
- Members of the NCERA-184 successfully began a multi-state project to develop disease and economic threshold models to improve foliar disease management in wheat. Trials were conducted OH, IN, IL, and WI. Additionally, training programs for soft red winter wheat production in the North Central region were held the past two years.