103(1)_str6

 

ISSN 1392-3196 / e-ISSN 2335-8947
Zemdirbyste-Agriculture, vol. 103, No. 1 (2016), p. 45–52
DOI 10.13080/z-a.2016.103.006

The variability of the occurrence of Fusarium culmorum in winter wheat grain in relation to climatic conditions and cultivation methods

Ryszard WEBER, Włodzimierz KITA, Wojciech PUSZ, Renata KIELOCH

Abstract

Wheat grains are colonized by a wide range of different saprophytic and pathogenic fungi. Infestation of mycotoxigenic species such as Fusarium spp. raises concerns about the safety of the grains for human and animal consumption. The colonization depends upon various environmental and genetic factors. The aim of the study was to analyse the variability of the incidence of the Fusarium culmorum fungus in wheat grain in relation to years of experiments – environmental conditions, the height of the preceding crop stubble, tillage system and cultivar. The study was conducted in the years 2009–2011, at the Experimental Farm of the Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation in the Lower Silesia Region. The preceding crop was winter wheat. The study included the following experimental factors: factor I – height of preceding crop stubble: a) low stubble, b) high stubble; factor II – soil tillage systems: a) direct sowing, b) ploughless tillage, c) plough tillage; factor III – winter wheat cultivars: a) ‘Mewa’, b) ‘Rapsodia’, c) ‘Legenda’. Mycological analyses were conducted on the grain from the cultivars harvested at the stage of full maturity. It is noteworthy that in the ploughless tillage system the fungal infestation observed in caryopsis under study was higher than that in the plough tillage system. Within the various tillage systems, the high stubble variant reduced the level of infection of wheat grain with the fungus F. culmorum. The wheat cultivars were characterised by varied resistance to grain colonisation by F. culmorum depending on the soil tillage system.

Key words: environment, Fusarium culmorum, stubble height, tillage system.

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