A faster way to test for fusarium graminearum is only months away, say
researchers at the Alberta Research Council.
Ralph Lange, a council plant pathologist, hopes a new test using
molecular techniques could reduce the time it takes to test for
fusarium to two days from one week.
The new method of detection should be available to seed labs by this
fall or next spring at the latest.
The faster test will become more important if Alberta implements a zero
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tolerance policy for fusarium. The government is looking at forcing all
seed grain and feed entering Alberta to test negative for fusarium
graminearum, the causal agent of fusarium head blight.
By forcing all grain to be tested for fusarium before it enters
Alberta, government officials hope to at least slow down the spread of
the disease that has already caused millions of dollars in damage in
other provinces and states.
“Our chances are pretty good to delay it. In the long run we won’t keep
it out,” Lange said. “Eventually it will creep over the border.”
A new study on the economic impact of fusarium head blight in nine
American states where it has taken hold estimates it cost producers
$870 million US from 1998 to 2000. The three-year loss exceeds the
annual value of all barley and oats production in the United States in
both 1999 and 2000.
“It highlights the economic consequences of this,” said Dee Ann Benard,
also a plant pathologist at the council.
She and microbiologist Fervone Holowenko are searching for a biological
control for fusarium head blight. They are studying a natural bacterium
isolated from the soil to control the disease on cereals.
“We started talking about fusarium head blight and what problem that
poses to Albertans, but also to other parts of Canada, and thought how
can we utilize what we know of biological controls to address the issue
of fusarium head blight,” said Holowenko.
The disease is a good candidate for biological control because it only
spreads during the one-week flowering period.
“In a perfect world a farmer would be able to apply it to his crop if
he thinks he’s at risk of getting fusarium head blight and this would
prevent it from actually taking hold and developing in his crop,” said
Benard.
They are also looking at applying the biological agent to the seed
before it is planted. Trials at the council’s research station in
Vegreville show that if the seed is planted immediately after it is
treated, there is a “great inhibition of fusarium,” said Benard.
As part of the research they want to test how long the biological agent
remains effective in stored grain.
“Diagnosis is to prevent or reduce the amount of organism coming into
Alberta. The biocontrol is to reduce the amount that slips through,”
said Lange.
Benard has also developed a growth chamber screening protocol to help
researchers and chemical companies test their products. Fusarium is a
declared pest in Alberta and it is illegal to do field tests for new
fungicides for fusarium.
“Fusarium spreads very easy in the field and we don’t want to put it in
the environment.”
