News

Avon farmers encouraged to check crops

Media release : 15th July 2008

Farmers in the Avon region are encouraged to confirm the cause of poor germination or growth in their crops before deciding on a management plan.

Department senior research agronomist Darshan Sharma said some crops in the central wheatbelt had shown patchy germination or poor seedling growth.

“Crops affected by cereal cyst nematode may look patchy in growth and development, but surprisingly the plant numbers can often be similar at least early in the season,” he said.

“Farmers will find that plants affected by cereal cyst nematode will have a linear root growth which is restricted, highly branched and tends to form clumps with soil.”

Dr Sharma said crops that had been sown too deep were also generally showing slow growth and development.

“Upon digging, farmers may find either yellow coloured dead seedlings that started germination but failed to emerge or too deep furrows with seeds possibly lying in some sort of unfavourable subsoil constraint,” he said.

Dr Sharma said he encouraged farmers to correctly diagnose problems in their crops before taking any action.

“Yield, crop growth and development will be affected in both cases, however some farmers in high rainfall areas might like trying foliar application of nutrients,” he said.

“Farmers, who decide to go ahead with a foliar application, should not overfeed their crop as the poor roots system will not be able to cope with the increased water demand later in the season. Overfeeding could result in a further yield penalty or high screenings.”

For more information on crop diagnosis contact your local agronomist or submit your plant sample for disease diagnosis to the department’s AGWEST Plant Laboratories.

Media Contacts

Darshan Sharma, senior research agronomist	9690 2188
Katrina Bonser/Lisa Bertram, media liaison	9368 3937 / 9368 3325