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Rhizoctonia Factsheet
Date: 03.04.2008
With yield losses from Rhizoctonia estimated in southern Australia costing up to $77 million annually, the GRDC has worked with its research partners to develop a Rhizoctonia fact sheet
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Barley Variety Guide (2008)
Date: 17.03.2008
This guide has been produced to help farmers make better decisions for profitable and sustainable crop production. It assists farmers to selecting the most suitable variety and contains updated technical information from the latest research, extension and industry programs.
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Exotic Pests Fact Sheet
Date: 06.02.2008
This fact sheet developed by Plant Health Australia (PHA) and the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) outlines key exotic pests and levels of risk for the Australian grains industry. Each pest contains photogrpahs to assist growers and advisers to identify key exotic plant pests.
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Managing frost minimising damage
Date: 31.01.2007
The risk of losses due to frost damage is increasing throughout Australia's cereal-growing areas because growers are sowing more crops with higher inputs and greater yield potential. This means the yield and financial losses from frost damage are likely to be higher because there is more crop to be damaged and the potential for per-hectare losses are greater. In WA in particular, this is compounded by the fact that, over the past 30 years, the incidence of frost has increased in many parts of the wheat belt.
Paddock management can do very little to address the risk of extreme, widespread, 'one in 20 years' frost events. However, for year-to-year frost risk management the key is to identify frost-prone paddocks or areas. Frost damage is most frequent, and most severe, in 'frost pockets', which can vary greatly in size, depending on topography and related factors. Physically mapping or marking areas identified as frost-prone will enable growers to target frost management strategies to these high-risk areas. The following recommendations apply to identified frost-prone paddocks or areas within farms. They represent the best available science-based options to reduce the risk of losses from frost.
Research over the past four years has identified the most effective strategies to reduce the risk of crop damage and losses due to frost. These strategies have been developed for the western region, however strategies 2, 3 and 4 are equally applicable to the northern region. The results of trials testing agronomic methods for managing frost risk – and the economics of these options – are being further analysed in the southern region.
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Resistant varieties vital to rust management
Date: 31.01.2007
Growing varieties with resistance to rust is the starting point for rust disease management.
It is also the foundation for an industry-wide program designed to protect Australia's multimillion-dollar investment in a genetic resource on which your wheat industry is based.
You can manage rust risk by:
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Quality wheat depends on you! Watch out for bunt
Date: 27.01.2007
Australia has a well-deserved reputation for marketing quality wheat to the world. It depends on grain merchants and farmers inspecting wheat and taking action if they see any problems.
This advice sheet is part of a national awareness program to increase Australia's ability to detect the wheat disease Karnal bunt, (which we have not found). Presence of this disease could severely disrupt international trade and have a major economic impact on the wheat industry.
Our aim is to make you aware of what Karnal bunt looks like, so that during your normal activities you will recognise suspect grains and know who to contact for follow-up action.
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GRDC - Advice Sheets - Assessment scale for recording stripe rust responses in field trials (2004)
Date: 23.01.2007
The recording of disease response data in field trials needs to be quick, accurate and broadly reproducible across operators. The following scale is used by staff of the Australian Cereal Rust Control Program in assessing response to stripe rust (caused by Puccinia striiformis) in field plots.
Plots can be assessed by taking an overall impression of the infection levels and using a score that reflects an average of responses among the upper most two leaves. Where infection levels are uneven, such as in hotspots, scores should reflect the range by noting the average score with the worst cases noted in brackets, eg 4 (7). In some instances, especially in breeding lines, there may be evidence for genetically mixed responses and these should be noted by separating the scores by a comma, eg 4,7.
General information in regard to the field site can be very helpful in reconciling differences in responses between locations. General points to note include date of sowing, general plant vigor, approximate date of disease occurrence, date of observation and plant growth stage.
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GRDC - Advice Sheets - Stripe Rust Alert for 2004
Date: 23.01.2007
The first samples of wheat stripe rust received at the Cereal Rust Laboratory, PBI Cobbitty, were collected by Tim Kensett-Smith in a Westonia crop near Merredin on 14th July. A recent sample, collected on 27th July, was from a crop of H45
growing near Esperance.Out of season wheat fields at Naracoorte SA (late March) and Horsham VIC (early April) were noted to be infected with wheat stripe rust. Samples collected from both locations were shown to have pathotype 134 E 16 A+ (WA pathotype).
Stripe rust samples on two crops growing near Campbell Town, Tasmania, were collected by Geoff Dean in early June. The pathotype was again shown to be the WA form, ie 134 E16 A+.
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Stripe rust head infection
Date: 21.01.2007
Stripe rust, caused by Puccinia striiformis, has reached epidemic levels eastern Australia in 2003. Over the past two weeks there has been widespread reporting of stripe rust head infections in a range of varieties across most wheat producing districts.
These notes provide some background in response to many enquiries concerning the nature, anticipated consequences and possibilities for controlling stripe rust head infections.
Bleached, discoloured florets with faint evidence of yellow rust spores can be seen from first inspection of suspect heads (see Plate 1). These symptoms may be initially confused with other diseases, such as Fusarium head scab.
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Expected responses of NSW wheats to stripe rust in 2004
Date: 21.01.2007
The severe stripe rust epidemic in 2003 has resulted in many wheat varieties showing less than expected resistance to the disease. With harvest well underway in many districts, growers are asking questions concerning variety responses to stripe rust in order to consider seed retention options for 2004 sowings.
A significant development in 2003 has been the first occurrence of the Western Australian stripe rust pathotype in the eastern wheat growing region. Recent experiments at PBI Cobbitty have evaluated Australian wheat varieties for response to the WA pathotype. Although the data is preliminary and will require further tests for confirmation, it is being released now in order to provide a basis for expected disease responses in 2004.
However, disease response will depend on many factors, including the pathotype occurring at a particular location. The following table provides expected disease responses of NSW varieties to two pathotypes of the stripe rust pathogen. The scale is the same as that used in the NSW Winter Cereal Sowing Guide, where 9 is considered highly resistant and 1 as very susceptible to the disease.
