Crop sequence study of fusarium head blight on wheat (Triticum aestivum) and barley (Hordeum vulgare) in the Canadian prairies

Non-Peer ReviewedFusarium head blight (FHB) has become a major limitation to cereal crop production across much of the prairies in recent years, particularly for bread and durum wheat growers, and the disease is also impacting barley growers. Managing this disease with fungicides and resistant cultivars is not sufficient. A third important strategy of FHB management is the selection and inclusion of non-host crops in the rotation. In this study, our objective is to determine the impact of preceding crop choices on FHB of wheat (spring and durum) and barley, at select locations across western Canada. Crop choices will include common cultivated crops (cereals, pulses and oilseeds), as well as corn, which is increasingly popular in western Canada, particularly in Manitoba at present, and is expected to increase rapidly in Saskatchewan and Alberta over the next decade. The study will document the FHB severity and Fusarium spp., yield and quality (amount of fusarium damaged kernels, toxin content, TKW, TW, protein content and other important grading factors depending on the crop) of the affected cereal crops in each crop sequence. From this information, cereal growers will have information on which to base crop sequence decisions that minimize FHB in cereals in western Canada