Use of Information Technologies for Precision Crop Protection

Describtion - Fusarium head blight (FHB) is one of the most important diseases in wheat worldwide. Several Fusarium species are able to produce characteristic ear symptoms; however, often a complex of species has been identified in one field, including F. graminearum, F. culmorum, F. avenaceum, F. poae, F. tricinctum, F. equiseti, F. sporotrichioides. FHB may cause grain yield loss up to 70%. Some Fusarium species are able to produce mycotoxins, secondary fungal metabolites, some of them more toxic than others, that represent a high risk to human and animal health. Thus the loss in grain quality can be more important than yield losses. Different ways of spore dispersal within the crop canopy and differences in the ability to produce mycotoxins lead to various spatial distributions of Fusarium species and the associated mycotoxins in the field. Understanding the spatiotemporal dynamics of the pathogens in the field is an important prerequisite to manage FHB disease of wheat effectively. In this study wheat fileds are sampled in a grid. Frequency of infected kernels and amount of fungal biomass at each sampling is measured. Thy mycotoxin contamination is examined with a multi mycotoxin method at INFU (University of Dortmund). Results are mapped in a GIS und analysed spatially with the SADIE tool.