Cereals 2012: Septoria tests to determine possible new strain

Septoria isolates are being tested to try to determine whether there is a faster-developing strain of the disease, or if there’s some other simpler explanation based on the cool, wet weather, confirmed Bill Clark, of NIAB TAG, at Cereals.

“There’s much debate about whether slow leaf emergence is the reason, rather than any change in septoria,” he said. “And there’s no doubt that the cold weather has slowed down crop growth more than it has the disease.

“But even so, it is difficult to explain why we were seeing patches of septoria in fields, right up on flag leaves, in May, following a robust fungicide programme. It shouldn’t be biologically possible.”

What’s more, there have been cases reported in France of low latent-period septoria, he added.

Peter Taylor, of AICC, said that anything was possible with septoria, so the testing was important. “The rain has meant the disease has been able to keep going, but we’ve seen what’s happened in Ireland over the years to know that we must remain vigilant.”