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Crops

Answer

DEFRA, through the Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera) and its collaboration partners, has several measures in place to assess and manage the impact of yellow rust and brown rust of wheat and brown rust of barley.Fera conducts an annual assessment of diseases in commercial wheat crops which determines the severity and incidence of both these rust diseases. The results allow their impact on crop yield and their influence on agronomic practice to be monitored and fed back to Government and the industry. Surveys undertaken after fungicides have been applied show that between 2001 and 2010 yellow rust affected an average of 1% of crops each year while brown rust affected 10%. Fera scientists also lead a project (CropMonitor) which reports weekly intelligence on disease development in wheat and provides early warnings of changes in disease pressures (including yellow rust and brown rust) which assist farmers in making decisions on crop management.EU legislation requires National Listing (registration) of cereal varieties as a condition for marketing seed. The UK listing process includes testing new varieties for their resistance to these diseases, to prevent highly susceptible varieties from reaching the market and to encourage plant breeders to develop increased resistance. Data produced for National Listing are added to by the Home Grown Cereals Authority (HGCA) in further testing for the UK Recommended List, providing information on the best varieties for UK conditions.Fera and HGCA jointly fund the UK Cereal Pathogen Virulence Survey (UKCPVS), which monitors populations of yellow rust and brown rust of wheat and brown rust of barley for changes in virulence and the ability to infect previously resistant varieties. In the last two years, the UKCPVS has provided advance warning of significant changes in both wheat pathogens, helping farmers to manage their crops and to select more resistant varieties for their new plantings.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

105014; 543 c978-9W

Session

2010-12

Subjects

Crops

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk