Review: Fusarium head blight of barley in western Canada

Fusarium head blight (FHB), caused primarily by Fusarium graminearum, has r apidly become the most notorious disease of cereals in parts of western Can ada. The situation in barley is particularly striking, for until 1993 FHB w as not observed in the crop at all, but by 1996 it affected every barley fi eld examined in Manitoba. The disease is largely responsible for the declin e in acreage and the loss of markets for both malting and feed barley in th e region. Several aspects of FHB in barley are examined for this review, be ginning with an overview and description of symptoms and disease epidemiolo gy. Differences in the expression of FHB in barley as compared with wheat, including causal species, infection period, symptoms, and resulting damage (yield and quality losses) are described. These have implications for disea se management, including breeding for resistance. The latter is ongoing at several institutions and should result in cultivars with improved resistanc e to FHB in future. Until then, an integrated protocol for disease manageme nt must be implemented to minimize the threat of FHB for producers and the industry.