INFLUENCE OF SOWING DATES, SOIL AMENDMENTS, AND CULTIVARS ON WHEAT SPINDLE STREAK MOSAIC IN WINTER WHEAT

Abstract

Wheat spindle streak mosaic was reduced by sowing wheat after mid-October, instead of in the usual period, mid- to late September, but yield losses from late sowing more than offset the gain through disease reduction. Nitrogenous fertilizers and fungicides to control the probable fungus vector did not reduce the disease significantly. Several cultivars of red winter wheat, including Halytchanka, Blueboy and Miro, showed much lower incidence of disease and milder symptoms than the commercially acceptable white cultivars Genesee, Talbot, Fredrick or Yorkstar. Resistant cultivars offer the best solution at present to this disease problem.