THE results of a survey have shown that cereal growers may have a significant gap in their knowledge of soil-borne disease because until now they have largely been kept under wraps by effective seed treatments.

Up to a third of growers quizzed by Bayer could not identify the important and potentially damaging seed-borne disease loose smut. While this can be difficult to spot in its early stages, once it takes hold of cereal crops of wheat, barley and oats, it can have serious consequences.

Until recently, loose smut was a rare disease, but with both loose smut and leaf stripe being found in some barley crops in recent times, growers might need to bone up on their disease ID knowledge, especially given the reduction in effective seed treatments that are available.

Bayer’s quiz results – based on responses by 300 participants – highlighted the difficulty many have in identifying seed and soil-borne diseases of cereal crops, which have only rarely been seen thanks to effective seed treatments.

* Four out of five quiz-takers (84%) knew that bunt smelled of rotting fish, but a third (35%) were unable to spot the physical signs of the disease. Bunt, which only affects wheat, replaces the grain in infected ears with balls of spores.

* Only half (51%) correctly identified seedling net blotch – in fact a quarter of the growers mistook net blotch for leaf stripe, which looks similar in infected young seedlings.

* Almost half (45%) of those surveyed were able to identify covered smut, even though it is relatively rare in the UK. Loose and covered smut are similar, but covered smut produces spores that remain in the ear under a thin membrane.

"It’s not surprising that today’s growers find some of these diseases difficult to identify because of the success of single purpose fungicidal seed treatments," pointed out Claire Matthewman, a campaign manager at Bayer.

“But with growers now turning their attention to drilling, it is vital that good practice is maintained even when time is short and workloads high, particularly in light of the recent EU Member States’ decision to restrict neonicotinoid seed treatments after this autumn to use in permanent greenhouses only.

"By maintaining good practice, such as calibrating the drill correctly and ensuring that no seed is left on the surface, growers can help safeguard these crucial crop protection tools for use now and in the future.”