WERA_OLD97: Research on Diseases of Cereals
(Multistate Research Coordinating Committee and Information Exchange Group)
Status: Inactive/Terminating
WERA_OLD97: Research on Diseases of Cereals
Duration: 10/01/2000 to 09/30/2005
Administrative Advisor(s):
NIFA Reps:
Non-Technical Summary
Statement of Issues and Justification
The cereal grains, particularly wheat and barley, constitute major cash crops throughout the western region of the United States.. The types of cereal grains produced are diverse. Soft white winter and spring wheats are grown in the higher rainfall and irrigated areas. Hard red winter and spring wheats are produced in the lower rainfall, non?irrigated areas. Fallsown hard red spring wheat, primarily produced under irrigation, is an important production system in the desert southwest (California and Arizona). Durum wheat is produced in portions of Montana, Idaho, California, and Arizona. Barley and oats are grown in all areas. Identity?preserved wheats such as 377S hard white spring wheat are being developed to fill special niche markets. Diseases of these cereals are also diverse in their. number and dynamic in their annual economic impact.
Cereal producers, striving to maximize economic returns and reduce soil erosion, are adopting changes in tillage and cultural practices such as direct seeding (i.e., minimum or no?till), shorter rotations, earlier fall seeding, increased soil fertility, and, where water is available, more frequent irrigation. Each year more cereals are produced under sprinkler irrigation. All of the above factors have a profound effect on cereal diseases, which are or may become serious threats to cereal grain production. With grain prices at historic lows (adjusted for inflation), cereal producers are desperate for assistance in reducing operating costs and minimizing disease losses.
Newly introduced or detected diseases pose an especially serious threat. President Clinton's Executive Order on Invasive Species issued February 3, 1999 mandates a management plan which will "identify, monitor, and interdict pathways that may be involved in the introduction of invasive species." With its links between research, extension, and industry, this committee is ideally suited to play a key role in the president's plan. The most dramatic and economically serious recent example of an invasive species that affected a crop in the United States is Karnal bunt (KB) of wheat which was detected for the first time in the United States in March 1996 in Arizona. Detection of KB caused major disruptions in USA grain trade with 21 countries and the economic ramifications remain unclear.
Other cereal diseases have recently invaded the region or have emerged as important damaging diseases. Barley stripe rust (BSR) appeared in the USA for the first time in 1991, is now firmly established in California, Oregon and Washington, and threatens the malting and feed barley industry, since virtually all barley varieties are susceptible to BSR. High Plains disease, first detected in 1993, has caused major yield losses in corn in several states including Idaho, Utah, and Colorado, and now threatens the wheat, barley and corn industry throughout the Great Plains and Intermountain states.
Fusarium head blight has spread from the corn belt states into the Great Plains, causing millions of bushels in lost production, numerous farm and equipment sales, and disruption of farm families and whole communities. More...
Objectives
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The specific objective of the committee is to provide a forum for the coordination of cooperative efforts in cereal pathology in the western U.S., specifically through interactions at annual meetings, the exchange of biological material and methodologies, the development of an electronic bulletin board for small grain disease, and the publication of appropriate research and extension materials.
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Procedures and Activities
Expected Outcomes and Impacts
- The outcome will be improved communication among committee members and their respective states, thereby achieving maximum efficiency of research efforts. Extension programs for cereal disease control will carry research results to growers via publications and commodity schools and through the electronic bulletin board. This will be especially important as cereal producers in this region face the possibility of dealing with barley stripe rust, wheat Karnal bunt, High Plains disease, and potentially wheat and barley scab.
- We expect that identification of and coordination of research activities on new and ernerging small grain cereal diseases as well as exchange of information on techniques and strategies for dealing with these diseases will position researchers, extension personnel, and ultimately grain producers better to achieve maximum efficiency of research efforts and to deal more efficiently with these diseases. Use of the Internet and e?mail will allow researchers to communicate early detection of diseases as they may develop.
Projected Participation
View Appendix E: ParticipationEducational Plan
Researchers involved with this coordinating committee will communicate with and invite participation by plant pathologists from the USDA and private industry as well as from Extension personnel. Currently, at least one?third of our members have Extension appointments. Through them, growers will be informed of and information provided to them on emerging and/or new disease problems in their areas. Members of this committee played a major role in the production of the 2nd edition of the Compendium of Barley Diseases
Organization/Governance
There will be two offices for WCC?97. The Secretary is elected at the annual meeting and takes the minutes of the meeting and distributes them to members of the Committee. This person also serves as a liaison with the Administrative Advisor to see that all required annual reports are submitted to the office of the Executive Director, Western Association of Agricultural Experiment Station Directors. The chairman is also elected at the annual meeting and serves the following year to direct the activities of the Committee. In particular, the chairman will make sure that the objectives of the committee are being fulfilled. The next meeting of the Committee is usually at the home base of the Chairman, who then also serves as local arrangements chair. Meetings alternate among the Great Plains and western states. The 2000 site will be Manhattan, KS, and California is scheduled to host the 2001 meeting.
Literature Cited