Root diseases in wheat on clover ley

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Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4 Western Australia, Series 4

Volume 3

Number 10 1962 Article 7

1-1-1962

Root diseases in wheat on clover ley : factors under investigation.

4. Seed bed preparation 4. Seed bed preparation

S C. Chambers

Follow this and additional works at: https://library.dpird.wa.gov.au/journal_agriculture4 Part of the Agronomy and Crop Sciences Commons, and the Plant Pathology Commons

Recommended Citation Recommended Citation

Chambers, S C. (1962) "Root diseases in wheat on clover ley : factors under investigation. 4. Seed bed

preparation," Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4: Vol. 3: No. 10, Article 7.

Available at: https://library.dpird.wa.gov.au/journal_agriculture4/vol3/iss10/7

This article is brought to you for free and open access by the Agriculture at Digital Library. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4 by an authorized administrator of Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected].

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Root diseases in wheat on clover ley : factors under investigation. 4. Seed bed Root diseases in wheat on clover ley : factors under investigation. 4. Seed bed preparation

preparation

Cover Page Footnote Cover Page Footnote

The author is indebted to officers of the Wheat and Sheep Division and Mr. L. Price for assistance with the field and laboratory work respectively. Thanks are due also to Mrs. R. Thurloe for statistical analyses of results. This project was financed by a grant from the State Wheat Research Committee of Western Australia.

This article is available in Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4:

https://library.dpird.wa.gov.au/journal_agriculture4/vol3/iss10/7

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Clover Ley Farming

-Factors Under Investigation

4.—SEED BED PREPARATION

By S. C. CHAMBERS, M.Sc, Plant Pathologist

The occurrence of root rots in wheat crops in relation to seed bed preparation was studied in a series of field experiments.

Results suggest depth of cultivation has little effect upon the incidence of root diseases.

Ploughing of the seed bed reduced the amount of root rot compared with scarifying and also gave higher yields. However, the increased yield appears to be mainly due to better control of weeds.

R

OOT rots often cause heavy losses in wheat crops, particularly in t h e recently de- veloped clover ley a r e a s between Mt. Barker a n d Esperance.

Although several soil borne fungi a r e responsible, t h e control measures in general use a r e those formulated in t h e p a s t for t h e fungal pathogen Ophiobolus graminis, t h e cause of t a k e - a l l . One measure of long s t a n d i n g is t h e consolidation of t h e seed bed a s loose soils favour take-all.

A large n u m b e r of field trials have already been d o n e in Western Australia on various aspects of seed bed preparation.

These have given valuable information concerning yield in relation to cultural implements a n d frequency, d e p t h a n d time of working. I n some cases these caused visual differences in t h e incidence of root diseases.

The investigations described h e r e were u n d e r t a k e n to evaluate more precisely two of these factors in relation to t h e p r e - valence of root r o t s ; t h e y are.

(1) Cultivation implement.

(2) Depth of working.

EXPERIMENTAL

During 1960, clover ley land was used a t Beverley, Esperance Downs a n d Wongan Hills Research Stations for a n u m b e r of multifactorial experiments which included these two aspects of seed bed preparation.

The individual plots in each trial were about 500 links long and one drill width wide (this varied with t h e type of drill a t each site). T h e times of seed bed p r e p a r a - tion and sowing varied according to local seasonal conditions.

Incidence of root diseases was evaluated a t all sites in October, 1960, by t h e method described previously (Chambers 1962).

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Journal of Agriculture, Vol 3 No 10, 1962

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E x p e r i m e n t a l details specific to TABLE 1 1. Implement of Cultivation.—The r e -

lative m e r i t s of t h e mouldboard plough a n d t h e rigid t y n e scarifier for seed bed p r e p a r a t i o n were studied a t Beverley a n d Esperance.

T h e t r i a l a t Beverley h a d 48 plots, half were ploughed a n d t h e r e m a i n d e r scarified on J u n e 3, 1960. T h e experimental site was sown one week later.

T h e experiment a t Esperance h a d 32 plots. Here t h e a p p r o p r i a t e plots were ploughed once ( J u n e 21), or scarified twice

( J u n e 21 a n d 28) a n d t h e whole a r e a was seeded on J u n e 28, 1960.

2. Depth of Cultivation.—Two cultiva- t i o n d e p t h s were included in each of four multifactorial e x p e r i m e n t s .

Two of t h e trials were conducted a t E s p e r a n c e w i t h cultivation depths of four inches a n d eight inches. T h e first h a d 16 plots w h i c h were initially ploughed to t h e correct d e p t h s on J u n e 13, 1960. T h e e x p e r i m e n t a l site was disc harrowed lightly on J u n e 28 a n d seeded on J u n e 30, 1960.

T h e 24 plots in t h e second experiment were ploughed to t h e appropriate depths on J u n e 8, 1960 a n d sown eight days later.

T h e two r e m a i n i n g trials were carried out a t W o n g a n Hills a n d Beverley a n d t h e d e p t h s of cultivation were four inches a n d six inches.

T h e e x p e r i m e n t a t Wongan Hills h a d 16 plots w h i c h were ploughed on May 23. T h e whole a r e a was scarified lightly j u s t before p l a n t i n g on J u n e 6, 1960.

T h e experiment a t Beverley h a d 48 plots a n d was cultivated to t h e correct d e p t h s on J u n e 3, 1960 a n d sown one week later.

RESULTS

T h e m o s t common pathogenic fungi associated with root r o t t i n g a t t h e experi- m e n t a l sites were Fusarium avenaceum a n d Ophiobolus graminis. A n u m b e r of fungi including Curvularia ramosa, C.

spicifera, Fusarium acuminatum, F. sporo- trichioides, Helminthosporiom sativum and Rhizoctomia solani were detected b u t only in t r a c e a m o u n t s .

Analyses of results a r e in Tables 1 a n d 2.

INCIDENCE OF ROOT DISEASES AND YIELDS OF WHEAT IN RELATION TO

IMPLEMENT OF CULTIVATION.

a. Avondale Research Station, Beverley

Implement used for initial seed bed

preparation

Mouldboard plough ....

Rigid tyne scarifier ....

Level of significance ....

Mean K6. of stools per 40 feet of row affect«d by

O.

graminis 1-7 0-8 not sig.*

F.

avenaceum 26-7 69-8 P<0-001*

Yield bush./acre

22-1 7-4 P = < 0 0 0 1

b. Esperance Plains Research S t a t i o n

Implement used for initial seed bed

preparation

Mouldboard plough ....

Rigid tyne scarifier ....

Level of significance ....

Mean Ifo. of stools per 40 feet of row affected by

O.

graminis 17-9 14-3 not gig.*

F.

avenaceum 2 1 1 36-9 P<0-001»

Yield bush./acre

10-8 2-9 P < 0 0 0 1

• Using transformation X | .

TABLE 2

INCIDENCE OF ROOT DISEASES AND YIELDS OF WHEAT IN RELATION TO

DEPTH OF CULTIVATION.

a. Esperance Plains Research S t a t i o n (Experiment I )

Depth of Cultivation

inches 4

8 Difference*

Percentage of stools affected by O. graminis

23-3 19-0 not sig.t

F. avenaceum

1 7 1 12-9 not sig.t

Yield

bush./acre 8 1 8-3 not sig.

b. Esperance Plains Research S t a t i o n (Experiment I I )

inches 4

8

Level of significance ...

Mean No. of stools per 40 feet of row affected by O. graminis

39-5 26-5 P < 0 - 0 1 «

F. avenaceum

41-8 30-4 P<0-0S«

Yield

bush./acre 3-5 4 0 not sig.

802

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c. Wongan Hills Research Station

inches 4

8 Differences

Mean Ho. of stools per 40 of row affected by

F. avenaceum

12-5 7-1 not significant

Yield

bush./acre 34-7 35-9 not sig.

d. Avondale Research Station, Beverley

inches 4

6 Differences

Mean Ho. of stools per 40 feet of row affected by 0 . graminis

1-4 1 1 not sig.*

F. avenaceum

4 8 1 48-3 not sig.*

Yield

bush./acre 14-6 14-9 not sig.

Using transformation XJ. t Using transformation aresin percentage.

Discussion

The results show that ploughing the seed bed reduced the incidence of F. avenaceum as compared with scarifying, and also gave higher yields (Table 1).

Nevertheless root diseases do not appear to be the prime cause for the differences in yield as earlier work suggests F. avenaceum is a comparatively weak pathogen (Cham- bers 1962). Furthermore, the incidence of the other more important pathogen.

O. graminis, was not affected by the method of seed bed preparation (Table 1).

The main cause of the differences appeared to be the better control of weeds by ploughing compared with scarifying (Fig. 1). The crop on scarified ground weakened by weed competition, seemed to be more prone to attack by F. avenaceum.

The data in Table 2 suggests the depth of cultivation is far less important than the choice of implements in the preparation of the seed bed. For example yields were not affected by increasing the depth of cultivation from 4 in. to 6 in. or even 8 in. (Table 2). The prevalence of root rotting organisms also remained un- changed by increasing the depth to 6 in.

In one experiment at Esperance, the incidence of both O. graminis and F.

avenaceum was significantly less on ground cultivated to a depth of 8 in. How- ever, these differences were not reflected

Wheat plots sown on land prepared by ploughing (left), and scarifying (centre right). The lighter colour of the scarified plot Is due to the prolific growth of grass amongst the crop

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Journal of Agriculture, Vol 3 No 10, 1962

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in the yields which incidently were very low for both depths of cultivation (Table 2b). Unfavourable seasonal conditions are partly responsible for the low yields.

(All types of cereals yielded poorly at Esperance in 1960).

Although F. avenaceum and O. graminis were the main fungi encountered at these experimental sites, a number of other root rotting fungi have been recorded in Western Australia. Work on cultural aspects of control is contemplated at sites where these other fungi may be of importance.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author is indebted to officers of the Wheat and Sheep Division and Mr. L. Price for assistance with the field and laboratory work respectively. Thanks are due also to Mrs. R. Thurloe for statistical analyses of results.

This project was financed by a grant from the State Wheat Research Committee of Western Australia.

REFERENCE Chambers, S. C. (1962).-

Vol. 3 (4th Series)

-J. Agric. W. Aust.

299-302.

Y.A.L. BOYS' OVERSEAS TOUR OF WORLD

The Young Australia League is again arranging another Overseas Tour for a party of boys from all States of the Commonwealth to commence in April, 1963 travelling to various countries throughout the world. The contingent is booked to leave Sydney, New South Wales, on April 5th, 1963, by the P. & O.-Orient Line steamer, Arcadia, to travel to the United States of America via Manila, Hong Kong Japan, and Honolulu.

The itinerary for the tour then provides for an extensive visit to the United States of America and Canada, visiting most of the important cities on both the West and East Coast. From Canada the party will depart from Montreal to travel down the St. Lawrence, across the Atlantic, to Great Britain.

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Further information on the tour is available and all enquiries for DrosDertu<i giving full details should be made to the Y.A.L. Headquarters, Murray Street Perth Western Australia. ' '

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