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Technical Notes
- Diseases Of Peas (PDF: 99 kB)
- Ergot Disease In Cereals (PDF: 1.6 MB)
- Clubroot Disease Of Oilseed Rape And Other Brassica Crops (PDF: 288 kB)
- Winter Wheat Disease Control (PDF: 1.3 MB)
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Diseases
If you want a quick reference to identify a specific disease, information here will give a general biology and methods of identifying the problem.
Barley Leaf Stripe
Barley leaf stripe is a seed borne disease which is currently rare
Barley Powdery Mildew
Powdery mildew is one of the major diseases affecting barley. There are currently many spring barley varieties which show good varietal resistance, but the popular malting barley variety Optic is very susceptible to this disease. With so much of the spring barley area using this variety, it has led to an increase in this disease in recent years.
Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus
Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus can affect a wide range of cereals and grasses and is spread through aphids
Barley Brown Rust
Brown rust in barley can cause extensive brown lesions on the leaves. This will lead to a loss in green leaf area and a severe attack will have a big impact on yield.
Botrytis
Botrytis is a common disease which affectes a wide range of crops, including peas and oilseed rape.
Clubroot
Clubroot, or finger & toe is a soil borne fungal disease which attacks the roots of brassicas including oilseed rape, swedes, calabrese, cauliflowers and cabbage.
Ergot
Ergots are fungal resting bodies which contain toxic alkaloids; they are very poisonous to both humans and livestock. Ergots are purplish black in colour, and a similar size to grain, but smaller pieces of ergot may also be present.
Cephalosporium Leaf Stripe
Cephalosporium leaf stripe is caused by a soilborne fungus. The disease can cause economic losses in winter wheat grown in short wheat rotations where the straw is incorporated into the root zone. Economic losses have been reported on farms in Northumberland, Lothians and Perthshire.
Chocolate spot in beans
Small chocolate coloured spots appear on the leaves following warm humid weather around flowering time.
Halo Spot In Barley
Halo spot of barley is relatively unusual disease, but it has been found throughout Scotland from the Borders up to Orkney. It is caused by the fungus Selenphoma donacis.
Crown Rust
Crown rust is one of the main diseases to affect oats
Common Eyespot
Common eyespot is a fungal disease which attacks the stems of winter cereals.
Light Leaf Spot
Light leaf spot is the main foliar disease to attack winter oilseed rape in the north of Britain.
Loose Smut
Loose smut is a seed borne disease which affects winter and spring barley.
Microdochium nivale
Microdochium nivale and Microdochium majus can have a big impact on the emergence of crops
Net Blotch
Net blotch is an important seed and trash borne disease in barley.
Potato Late Blight
Late blight in potatoes is the key foliar disease to affect potato crops in Scotland.
Ramularia
Ramularia leaf spot and abiotic leaf spots (also known as Physiological Leaf Spots PLS) can cause extensive damage to the upper leaves in spring and winter barley once crops are past the flowering stage of growth. This can cause extensive losses in yield and quality.
Rhynchosporium
Rhynchosporium is the most damaging disease in barley in the wetter areas of the UK. It can attack both winter and spring varieties.
Sclerotinia
Sclerotinia can attack a wide range of crops, including oilseed rape, potatoes, peas, beans, carrots and lettuce. Crops which are unaffected include grasses and cereals.
Septoria Tritici
Septoria tritici is currently the major disease in wheat. Although more resistant varieties, including Robigus have recently been added to the HGCA Recommended List, many varieties remain susceptible, including Consort. Issues concerning fungicide resistance have made it more of a challenge to manage in susceptible varieties.
Snow rot
Snow rot is a disease most commonly associated with crops of winter barley in cropping situations where snow cover is common over the winter.
Tan spot in wheat
Tan spot in wheat is currently rare in Scotland, but the disease was found in 2010 in the Lothians.
Wheat Yellow Rust
Yellow rust is a major disease in wheat.
Stem rust
Stem rust, or black stem rust is a major wheat disease which fortunately causes no immediate threat to UK crops. A new strain has however spread across east Africa, then across to Yemen and into Sudan. There is a mjaor threat in these countries since the strain can break through many existing varietal resistances.