Fusarium Ear Blight on Wheat - Epidemiology and Control of Gibberella Zeae, The Teleomorph of Fusarium Graminearum, with Folicur®

Abstract

Ear fusariosis is caused mainly by Fusarium graminearum, Fusarium culmorum and Microdochium nivale. The significance and distribution of the fusarioses was investigated in various regions of Germany between 1987 and 1993 (Mauler-Machnik and Zahn, 1994). The most common species was F. graminearum. In the ear, this species could be found at numerous sites in Germany. In contrast to F. culmorum and G. nivalis, F. graminearum was only rarely isolated from wheat leaves in our investigations. It appears that the ear can be infected via a route which does not involve the leaves. Unlike the conidia of F. graminearum, which are carried over short distances in splash water droplets, spores of Gibberella zeae (teleomorph of F. graminearum) can be transported over long distances by wind (Reis, 1988a). It was therefore suspected that G. zeae could play an important role in the epidemiology of this disease. Results on epidemiology and control of G. zeae are presented in this paper.