The effect of minimum cultivation on the incidence of take-all down the root profile of winter wheat |
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Authors: | R D PREW |
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Institution: | Rothamsted Experimental Station, Harpenden, Herts., AL5 2JQ |
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Abstract: | The effects of direct drilling, shallow cultivation and ploughing on the infection of winter wheat roots by the take-all fungus (Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici) were studied on three field sites over a number of years. All three soil types were categorised by Cannell, Davies, Mackney & Pidgeon (1978) as suitable for sequential direct drilling. The results show that a smaller proportion of roots was infected at depth in the direct-drilled plots in May/June. However by July these differences had all but disappeared and an estimate of infection in the top 7 cm of the roots (approximately equivalent to traditional hand sampling for take-all) gave a reliable comparison of the total take-all on plants grown under these different cultivation systems. |
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