Hanna Friberg, Paula Persson (VPE), Christian Steinberg (INRA, France), Dan Funck Jensen

A changed climate and new cropping systems modifies the conditions for Swedish crop production.

The spectrum and importance of different plant diseases might change, for example through increased cultivation of winter wheat and maize, and with this change also the presence fungi causing quality problems in these crops. We are studying Fusarium graminearum and F. culmorum, two important pathogens of maize and wheat which are both dependent on cropping system design.

European studies show that F.graminearum is now becoming more important in colder regions like Scandinavia, while F. culmorum is getting less important. In a new SLU-funded long-term trial outside of Uppsala, we are investigating how the two pathogens establish in monoculture and more diverse crop rotations (with a break crop) in winter wheat and maize, in systems with inversion and non-inversion (reduced) tillage.

Financing: Stiftelsen Lantbruksforskning