May 5, 2011

Wheat disease making a comeback in Australia

A soil-borne disease that cost Australian wheat farmers over AUD100 million (US$107 million) in lost production 30 years ago is making an unwelcome comeback.

Cereal cyst nematode (CCN) is a microscopic worm that lives on the roots of the wheat plant and causes significant yield loss.

When first detected during the 1970s in South Australia and Victoria, breeders developed new disease-resistant wheat varieties. However, it's now been found in Western Australia for the first time.

Julie Nichol, from CIMMYT, the International Wheat and Maize Improvement Centre, based in Mexico, says farmers need to be educated on disease.

"Farmers need to be made aware they still need to use those resistant cultivars in their rotational mixes in their farming systems," she said.

It's not just a problem for Western Australian farmers. All wheat farmers should be concerned as more than 10 million hectares of wheat growing area is affected by CCN.

Nichol says the complexity with China is that there are numerous species and pathotypes of CCN whereas Australia only had one.

She says work needs to be carried out to develop a resistance to these numerous pathotypes and species to reduce the biosecurity threat to Australia.