Pest, disease and weed management

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://elibrary2.sugarresearch.com.au/handle/11079/13843

Research outcomes: A comprehensive RD&E program that addresses existing and emerging pests, diseases and weeds, allowing sugarcane growers to manage their crops efficiently with minimal environmental impacts. An enhanced industry capacity to deal with incursions of exotic pests, diseases and weeds.

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2002 - 200912010 - 20183

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Author: search.filters.author.Cox, MCHas files: Yes

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    Effects of pachymetra root rot and nematodes on some elite sugarcane clones in Australia
    (ASSCT, 2016) Bhuiyan, SA; Croft, BJ; Wong, E; Ogden-Brown, J; Turner, M; Parfitt, R; Magarey, RC; Bull, J; Cox, MC
    PACHYMETRA ROOT ROT and nematodes are the two most important soil-borne pathogens of sugarcane in Australia. An experiment was established in Yandaran, Queensland in grey forest soil with high Pachymetra spore counts (>100 000 spores/kg). Fifteen elite varieties and one advanced clone, from pachymetra root rot susceptible, intermediate and resistant categories, were planted in the experiment. The experiment was maintained until the second ratoon crop and Pachymetra and nematode populations were assessed in each crop. In addition, the incidence of smut was recorded before harvesting. Cane yield (TCH), commercial cane sugar (CCS) and sugar yield (TSH) were also measured in each crop. Pachymetra spore counts remained significantly lower in resistant varieties compared to susceptible and intermediate varieties until the second ratoon. In intermediate and susceptible varieties Pachymetra spore counts increased substantially, in particular, in second ratoon. In intermediate varieties such as Q232A and Q208A Pachymetra spore counts increased more than three times from plant crop to second ratoon. Numbers of nematodes, in particular root-lesion nematode, more than doubled in the second ratoon crop compared to the plant and first ratoon crops. Only Q248A had significant levels of smut, with 25% and 30% infected plants in the first and second ratoon crops, respectively. Yield reduction was substantial in the second ratoon compared to the plant and first-ratoon crop. Sugar yield decreased by 45% in the second ratoon compared to the first ratoon. Mostly, poor or negative correlations were observed between both Pachymetra spore counts and nematode numbers and yield.
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    How do current ratings of sugarcane varieties for resistance to smut relate to natural infection
    (ASSCT, 2018) Bhuiyan, SA; Cox, MC; Croft, BJ
    SUGARCANE SMUT, CAUSED by a fungus Sporisorium scitamineum, is an important disease of sugarcane in Australia. Sugarcane smut can be managed effectively through the propagation of resistant varieties. In Sugar Research Australia’s (SRA) smut screening experiments, stalks of varieties from various stages of breeding programs are cut into one-eye setts and then dipped into a smut spore suspension (5 × 106 spores/mL water) for 10 min at 31 °C. After germination, the plants are transplanted to the field and disease incidence is measured in the plant crop and first and second ratoon crops. This method is effective for screening of a large number of varieties in a relatively short period (10–12 months) and is used in other countries. Although this method is widely accepted, it has some drawbacks: i) test plants are subject to very high disease pressure; and ii) it does not replicate natural infection. Three experiments were established in 2007, 2008 and 2009, to determine if the ratings obtained by artificial inoculation technique predict field resistance of varieties. All experiments were planted with 10 or 5 replicates of the test varieties planted between rows of infected Q205A, and maintained until second ratoon. Highly susceptible varieties Q205A and Q157 had >40% infected plants in plant crops whereas little smut was observed in intermediate and resistant varieties. Average % of smut infected plants increased in all experiments from the plant crop (5–12%) to first ratoon (21–46%) and second ratoon (26–59%) crops. The correlation coefficient values between smut incidence in the natural infection experiments and the historical ratings obtained using dip-inoculation methods ranged from r = 0.82 to 0.72, indicating a good agreement between natural infection trials and dip inoculation ratings.
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    SmutBuster: accelerated breeding of smut-resistant sugarcane varieties : SRDC final report BSS325
    (BSES, 2011) Cox, MC; Croft, BJ; Bonnett, G
    Sugarcane smut is caused by the fungus, Ustilago scitaminea Syd., and is one of the most serious diseases of sugarcane. At the end of 1983, only the sugar industries of Australia and Fiji remained free from smut. Sugarcane smut was reported for the first time in Australia in July 1998 in the Ord River Irrigation Area. Eight years later, smut was identified on the east coast of Australia at Childers. By December 2007 sugarcane smut was widespread and established in the Bundaberg?Isis, Central Queensland and Herbert River districts, and by 2010 the Mulgrave, Tully and Burdekin districts were also infested. The average yield loss reported in papers at the time of the east coast smut incursion was 6% yield loss for each 10% increase in per cent-infected plants. To minimise losses susceptible varieties will need to be completely replaced with equivalent/higher yielding smut-resistant varieties, as fast as possible. This would necessitate changing ~80% of the2006 sugarcane crop. Replacement of susceptible varieties will be achieved, not only by rapid scale-up of smut-resistant varieties, but also accelerated development of high yielding,smut-resistant varieties. The parental pool of high breeding value, smut-resistant germplasm was however severely limited, adversely impacting the core crossing program. Without a significant plant breeding response, the rate of genetic gain for productivity would decrease and fewer productive, smut-resistant varieties would be released from the BSES-CSIRO Sugarcane Variety Improvement Program. The SmutBuster project was a key component of the RD&E response to sugarcane smut with the specific objective of developing high yielding smut-resistant varieties through the utilisation of high breeding value parental germplasm with susceptible reaction to smut.
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    Plant resistance to canegrubs : SRDC final report BSS132
    (BSES, 2002) Allsopp, PG; Cox, MC; Nutt, KA
    The project sought to determine the range and types of resistances to feeding by canegrubs in sugarcane clones and their wild relatives. Resistance was tested in both pot trials and field trials and the importance of several biochemical factors in this resistance was investigated.Field and pot trials showed that a range of tolerance and antibiosis resistance mechanisms to canegrub feeding exists within the current sugarcane genome and close relatives. Tolerance effects were apparent in the growth of tops, roots and stubble. Antibiosis effects were apparent on grub survival and grub growth. Some of these tolerance effects are partially correlated with the general vigour of clones, but there are a number of clones that depart from the general relationships for tolerance and antibiosis. These clones would be especially important in any future program to increase the levels of resistance within the breeding gene pool.There was reasonable repeatability of pot-based tolerance levels between pot trials and with results derived from field trials. However, the type of canegrub and its underlying biology influenced the usefulness of field trials.Biochemical investigations showed no clear relationships between any factor and antibiosis phenotypes. However, there were indications that the type of cell-wall sugars may influence resistance to canegrubs. In addition, the data clearly indicated that the quantity and type of phenolic compounds in the roots change following feeding by canegrubs.