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Meeting the challenge of disease management in perennial grain cropping systems

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 February 2007

C.M. Cox ,
K.A. Garrett  and
W.W. Bockus
C.M. Cox*
Affiliation:
The Land Institute, 2440 E Water Well Road, Salina, KS 67401, USA.
K.A. Garrett
Affiliation:
Department of Plant Pathology, 4024 Throckmorton Plant Sciences Center, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA.
W.W. Bockus
Affiliation:
Department of Plant Pathology, 4024 Throckmorton Plant Sciences Center, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA.
*
*Corresponding author: cmcox@landinstitute.org
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Abstract

Perennial grain production will likely present unique challenges for managing diseases that affect the productivity and longevity of crops being considered. Typical cultural practices effective at reducing soil- and residue-borne pathogens, such as annual crop rotations, delayed fall planting, and tillage, are not feasible in perennial systems. Consequently, soil- and residue-borne pathogens, and pathogens such as root colonizers and viruses that survive in live tissue, may increase in importance in a perennial grain crop. Resistance genes will undeniably be important defenses against disease. However, it is seldom, if ever, possible to incorporate within a single cultivar resistance to all existing and future important diseases. Furthermore, genes vulnerable to ‘boom and bust’ cycles are generally short-lived when deployed in monocultures. For these reasons, the use of mixtures of crop cultivars or species that vary in resistance functions will likely be an important strategy for managing diseases and pests of perennial grains. Burning of plant residue, a natural phenomenon in native perennial grass systems, may also be an effective disease management strategy. The successful implementation of these management tools may reduce or eliminate the risk that perennial grain crops will become pathogen refugia that affect neighboring annual plantings and the productivity of perennial plants.

Keywords

perennial wheathost diversitymixturesblendspolycultureresistanceburning
Type
Research Article
Information
Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems , Volume 20 , Issue 1 , March 2005 , pp. 15 - 24
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2005

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