Residue on the ground increases the risk for certain plant diseases, and increases potential severity of these diseases. With good management, however, these risks can be minimized. The presence of disease in any crop requires 3 conditions:
- Pathogen-the organism that causes disease
- Suitable host-the pathogen needs a host to develop and flourish
- Environment-specific site conditions such as damp weather and warm temperatures are conducive to disease outbreaks.
Plant Diseases Risk Management Strategies:
- Crop rotation-growing non-susceptible crops in a rotation sequence lowers soil and residue- borne disease levels. For some pathogens, that can remain viable in the soil for some time (e.g. blackleg), a break of several years may be necessary.
- Seed Choice-using disease-free seed is important.
- Disease resistant crop varieties - Choose varieties that have resistance to important diseases.
- Balanced Fertility-it is important to maintain crop health for crops to be able to effectively resist pathogen attacks (e.g. excess nitrogen causing lush stands can lead to high canopy humidity and a disease risk).
- Field Scouting-the early warning system for any problems, recognizing a problem or situation before it gets out of hand.
- Resource Information-know what the potential diseases are, their symptoms, and how to combat the problem.
- Fungicide Application-seed treatment with fungicides is an effective way to control many plant diseases.
- Harvest Management-spreading chaff effectively can help reduce moisture levels under the chaff and minimize root diseases (e.g. take-all and Pythium root rot).
