Crop diseases

Plant diseases are a significant yield and quality constraint for growers of broadacre crops in Western Australia.

Plant pathogens can be fungal, bacterial, viral or nematodes and can damage plant parts above or below the ground. Identifying symptoms and knowing when and how to effectively control diseases is an ongoing challenge for WA growers of cereals (wheat, barley, oats and triticale), pulses (field pea, chickpea, faba bean), canola and lupin crops.

The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development has a strong research, development and extension focus to assist industry to reduce the impact of crop diseases on all broadacre crops.

Results of extensive field/lab/glass house research and surveys across the WA grainbelt every year contribute to disease management packages and forecasting tools, and identify new incursions of crop pathogens or strains into WA.

The department also gathers and extends industry disease reports (PestFax), provides a disease diagnosis service and a broad range of management information for specific foliar and root diseases and viruses.

See Also

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Articles

  • Crown rot in wheat appears as scattered white heads

    Crop diseases: forecasts and management

    11 December 2013

    Information is provided here to assist management of diseases and viruses that occur in broadacre crops grown in Western Australia - cereals (wheat, barley, oats and triticale), pulses (field pea,

  • Wheat with Yellow Spot

    Wheat disease ratings

    22 June 2014

    When selecting a wheat variety to implement in a farming system, it is important to be aware of the variety's disease package to plan management options. The disease resistance ratings for wheat va

  • Yellow spot appears as tan elongated lesions with yellow margins, with leaf dying back from tip

    Managing yellow spot and septoria nodorum blotch in wheat

    5 December 2013

    Leaf spot diseases affecting wheat in Western Australia are septoria nodorum blotch, yellow spot and septoria tritici blotch.

  • Leaf rust on leaves at Northampton Western Australia 2013

    Managing stripe rust and leaf rust in wheat in Western Australia

    13 December 2012

    Stripe rust (Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici) and leaf rust (Puccinia triticina) can be a significant threat to wheat crops in Western Australia in some seasons.

  • Wheat Leaf rust pustules are orange-brown in colour, circular to oval in shape and usually found scattered on the upper surface of leaves.

    Implications of the known wheat leaf rust pathotypes in WA

    12 November 2013

    This page provides information about known wheat leaf rust pathotypes in Western Australia (WA), including most recent incursions in 2013 and 2015.

  • Stem rust pustules on wheat stems

    Managing stem rust of wheat

    13 December 2012

    Stem rust (Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici) is a foliar disease that can significantly reduce wheat yields if it occurrs in early spring and is not controlled.

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