Fhb Essay

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Wheat and barley are two commonly grown crops around the world that can cause a significant impact on the economy when losses occur. Fusarium head blight (FHB), also known as scab, is a fungal disease of wheat and barley that results in yield loss and a mark down in grain price, due to toxins released in the grain, not only in North America but around the world triggering consequences to the economy (11,5,7,20). Plant Pathologists in England first made reports of FHB in 1884 as a threat to wheat and barley (2, 20). Recent epidemics of the disease have occurred in Asia, Europe, North America, and South America making this disease a global concern. The worldwide epidemics have resulted in the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) to declare FHB playing a major role in limiting wheat production around the world (2,7,9). Due to the impact of FHB on food production and the economy many countries worldwide have taken an interest in studying this disease.
The United States started documenting Fusarium head blight epidemics as early as 1917, finding widespread reports of FHB throughout the country. Areas that typically reported FHB epidemics usually occurred in small grain production areas where May and June were cool and wet (9,20). The most recent outbreaks of FHB on wheat and barley in the United States occurred between 1991 and 1997 causing an estimated $1.3 billion in losses (6,5,2,7,9). The heavy losses due to FHB in the United States led to the establishment of the United States Wheat and Barley Scab Initiative (USWBSI), an organization that is federally funded to research FHB whose goal is “to develop, as quickly as possible, effective control measures that minimize the threat of Fusarium head blight (scab),...

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...r Valley region consisting of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and Manitoba (7,9,20). The Red River Valley region produces red spring wheat, durum wheat, and spring barley, all which are susceptible to FHB, because of the typically cool and relatively dry climate. Spring grains are still in the leaf development stage in June, which traditionally has the most rainfall, helping ward off infection of FHB which occurs with high moisture and temperature at the flowering stage of the plant. July is typically the warmest month in this region and in 1993 the highest rainfall accumulation was in July, which coincides with the flower stage of the spring grains (9, 3, 20). The epidemic continued in the Red River Valley region after 1993 because of inoculum build up in the soil and rainfall being above average in June and July contributing to period of “wet cycles” (7,20).

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