An autecological study of the take-all fungus (Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici) in Western Australia

Abstract

The Western Australian (W.A.) grainbelt has a mediterranean-type climate, with hot-dry summers and mild-wet winters, and this together with the old, and often nutritionally poor, sandy acidic soils has determined the nature of the agricultural system of the region. Wheat is the major crop, and take-all disease is a serious problem which is exacerbated both by the climatic and edaphic conditions and the prevailing agricultural practices.The behaviour of the inoculum of the take-all fungus (Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici) in W.A. is markedly different from that reported from cool-temperate regions and therefore the disease requires different control strategies. Although relationships between inoculum and disease have been studied in W.A., the potential use of inoculum status of field soil for disease prediction is limited by the lack of predictability of rainfall.