Scientists of the subsidiary organization of "National Agrarian Science and Educational Center" JSC - "Zh. Zhiembayev Kazakh Research Institute for Plant Protection and Quarantine” LLP during the online consultation told about the existing fungal diseases of barley in Kazakhstan and the applied measures to control them.

      The speaker was Bekezhanova Madina Malikovna, a leading researcher in the department for the protection of cereals, oilseeds and legumes, candidate of agricultural sciences.

     Thus, Madina Bekezhanova said that in Kazakhstan several types of fungal diseases are common on barley - Ustilago hordei, black-smut, Ustilago nuda, powdery mildew, helmintosporous and fusarious root rot, linear, yellow and dwarf rust, septoriosis, enclosed and helmintosporous. In some years they can reach the degree of epitopia and reduce barley productivity to 20-30%. 

Fungal barley diseases:

On barley, there are three types of smut diseases:

Ustilago hordei, black smut, ustilago nuda. 

Also on this culture, there are three types of gelmitosporious diseases: dark brown, striped and reticulated spot.

Root rot is found on all crops, several types of diseases are found on barley, depending on the type of pathogen, they are divided into helminthosporious and fusarious root rot.

Protective measures:

Since more than 60% of all pathogens of agricultural diseases are spread by seeds, special attention should be paid to seed material. For a comprehensive assessment of the quality of the seed material, it is necessary to study its contamination with pathogenic microflora, i.e., conduct phytosanitary examination.

Phytosanitary examination. An important element of seed control is the phytosanitary examination of seeds. Correct prognosis of diseases, prior knowledge of the causes of their occurrence and developmental features and the effective implementation of protective measures. Phyto-examination of seeds will allow not only choosing the right preparation, but also to differentiate the treatment, that is, with a lack of protective equipment, pay special attention to heavily infected groups of grain and redistribute them.

        “Seed etching is an effective preventative measure for diseases transmitted by the seeds of many crops. Preparations used for etching seeds of grain crops are environmentally friendly, since they are completely decomposed before the phase of development of tillering of the crop. Also, when seed treatment with systemic drugs can protect crops from rust and powdery mildew to tillering,” - noted M. Bekezhanova.

      “Spraying crops with fungicide during the growing season is a very effective way to reduce crop losses from diseases that affect the leaves and stems of cereals transmitted by airborne droplets. This is known as a mandatory measure to limit the development and harmfulness of diseases,” - added the scientist M. Bekezhanova.