Diagnosing wheat loose smut
A fungal disease affecting seed heads, which can cause yield losses and delivery dockages.
What to look for
- Scattered plants with black heads or bare flower stalks.
Paddock
- Plants flower earlier than normal.
- Seed replaced with a compact mass of dark brown-black powdery spores.
- Bare stalks remain once fungal spores have blown away.
Plant
Where did it come from?
- The disease is carried as a small colony of fungus in the seed, which infects the growing point of the wheat seedling following germination. Infected seed is symptomless.
- Loose smut is not carried in soil or contaminated machinery.
- Infection is favoured by rainfall and high humidity during flowering.
Management strategies
Seed dressing fungicide
- Fungicidal seed dressing controls loose smut.
- Use clean seed if contamination is found.
See also
Page last updated: Thursday, 16 April 2015 - 10:12am