The Department of Agriculture, Western Australia will work with growers of summer crops on the State’s south coast to manage the fungal disease Fusarium head blight.

Department plant industries executive director David Bowran said the disease was rare in the Western Australian climate, but had been detected on seven properties from Mt Barker through to Esperance, all associated with summer cropping.

The initial discovery, made during in-depth quality assurance testing of a 2003 wheat harvest sample, prompted follow-up field surveys and paddock inspections by the Department which had found isolated instances of the disease.

Dr Bowran said many farmers on the South Coast were considering summer cropping and it was important that grain growers were pro-active in managing the disease to retain the State’s reputation as a producer of safe quality food.

He said all South Coast growers would receive an information package on disease identification, management and risk factors including summer cropping and stubble retention, to prevent further development or impact of Fusarium head blight.

“The fungus, Fusarium graminearum, has not been recorded in Western Australia since 1959 but occurs sporadically in areas of New South Wales and Queensland,” Dr Bowran said.

“The Department is advising growers this spring to review summer cropping plans and rotation practices and to test seed of maize, millet or sorghum to ensure there is no inadvertent movement of the disease on seed.”

Fusarium head blight is most prevalent in warm moist climates where wheat or barley follows a summer crop of corn, maize or sorghum, which are alternative hosts for the pathogen.

In wheat and barley it causes affected heads to ripen prematurely with discoloured and shrivelled grain.  Affected grain is poor quality with reduced seed vigour.

Dr Bowran said the fungus infected a range of winter and summer cereals and could survive on stubble for a number of seasons, particularly under no-tillage.

He said spores were produced on the crop residues during warm moist weather and were dispersed by wind and rain splash.

“Farmers along the south coast, and particularly those with a background of summer cropping, are being asked to lookout for the disease during grain filling this spring,” Dr Bowran said. 

“The first symptoms are individual brown spikelets and glumes which appear after flowering and can spread up and down the head. In humid conditions, a salmon pink to orange fungal growth can appear.”

More information about the disease and how to look for it will also be made available to growers at upcoming field days.