Survey of sugarcane in eastern Australia for sugarcane smut : SRDC final report BSS230

Abstract

Sugarcane smut is a serious disease of sugarcane that can cause yield losses in excess of 30% in susceptible varieties. The disease was found for the first time in Australia on the 21 July 1998 in the Ord River Irrigation Area (ORIA) of Western Australia.An initial rapid survey in eastern Australian sugarcane crops failed to locate smut. Travel by canegrowers to the ORIA and movement of machinery from the ORIA to eastern states prior to the discovery of smut had created opportunities for the disease to enter Queensland and New South Wales. There was also the possibility that the atmospheric conditions that facilitated the incursion into the ORIA, may have carried the disease to the eastern states. The status of sugarcane smut in the eastern states was uncertain at the commencement of the current survey.This report describes the results of a two-year sugarcane smut survey carried out by Cane Protection and Productivity Board (CPPB) and Bureau of Sugar Experiment Stations (BSES) staff in Queensland and New South Wales between the 10 November 1998 and the 17 March 2000.