Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs: Guidelines for the Prevention and Control of Wheat Diseases and Pests during the 2019 Autumn-Winter Season

Release Date:

2019-09-26

Effective management of diseases and pests during the wheat sowing and seedling stages is crucial for reducing initial pest and disease populations, preventing their occurrence in the mid- and late‑season, and ensuring year‑round control. To strengthen chemical seed treatment and autumn–winter pest and disease management for winter wheat, the Department of Crop Production under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, in collaboration with the National Agricultural Technology Extension Service Center, convened experts from the National Wheat Industry System and related plant protection specialists. Drawing on the incidence of wheat diseases and pests during the 2019 spring and summer seasons, they have developed guidance on the prevention and control of major autumn–winter wheat diseases and pests across China’s various production regions.

1. Prevention and Control Strategy

In response to the major diseases and pests affecting wheat during the autumn and winter seasons in China, and based on their incidence and damage patterns, we adhere to the principles of prioritizing key issues, implementing region‑specific management, tailoring measures to local conditions, and providing category‑based guidance. We adopt an integrated control strategy that combines green pest management with unified, coordinated prevention and control, comprehensively applying agricultural, biological, physical, and chemical methods. Measures such as planting disease‑resistant varieties, promoting seed treatment with fungicides, conducting appropriately timed late sowing, and removing volunteer wheat seedlings as well as weeds along field edges and roadsides are employed to effectively manage wheat diseases, pests, and weeds during the autumn and winter, thereby laying a solid foundation for year‑round disease and pest control and ensuring the safety of wheat production in China.

2 Key Regions and Target Groups for Prevention and Control

Huanghuaihai Wheat Region: Primarily targets sheath blight, root rot, take-all, smut, cyst nematode disease, yellow mosaic virus, underground pests, and weeds, while also providing control of rust, powdery mildew, aphids, and leafhoppers during the seedling stage.

Yangtze River Mid- and Lower-Reaches Wheat Region: Primarily targeting scab, sheath blight, take-all, and smut diseases, while also controlling underground pests, aphids, leafhoppers, and powdery mildew.

Southwest Wheat Region: Primarily targeting wheat stripe rust, while also controlling powdery mildew, wheat aphids, wheat spider mites, and underground pests.

Northwest Wheat Region: Targeting wheat stripe rust, powdery mildew, smut diseases, and underground pests as the primary control objectives, regions such as Xinjiang should also address diseases like snow mold.

3 Key Technologies

(1) Plant disease- and pest-resistant or tolerant varieties. In areas where stripe rust is endemic, select varieties with strong resistance to new stripe rust races; in regions where the disease manifests at the adult‑plant stage, consider using slow‑rusting cultivars. In stripe rust overwintering zones, cultivate high‑quality wheat varieties carrying different resistance genes across varying altitudes to reduce the initial inoculum of the pathogen. In Fusarium head blight–prone areas, choose varieties with moderate resistance to this disease and avoid indiscriminately introducing high‑yielding but susceptible cultivars, thereby mitigating the risk of late‑season epidemics. In regions severely affected by cyst nematode, plant newly developed varieties exhibiting a degree of resistance. For areas where wheat yellow mosaic virus is either endemic or newly emerging, select varieties that are relatively resistant to soilborne viral diseases.

(2) Seed treatment with chemical agents. In regions where seedling-stage diseases are severe, consider using high‑efficacy suspension seed coatings containing tebuconazole, difenoconazole, fludioxonil, or a combination of difenoconazole and fludioxonil to treat wheat seeds. In areas with heavy seedling‑stage insect pests, apply imidacloprid suspension seed coating or phoxim for seed treatment or coating. In regions where multiple diseases and pests occur simultaneously, use combined fungicide–insecticide seed coatings or seed‑treatment formulations for coating or mixing. In the summer‑overwintering zone of stripe rust and adjacent wheat-growing areas, employ triazolone‑ or tebuconazole‑based seed coatings to control both stripe rust and powdery mildew during the seedling stage while also preventing loose smut later in the season. In areas where take‑all disease is prevalent, prioritize the use of difenoconazole suspension seed coating and silthiopham (Quan Shi Jing) suspension formulation for seed treatment or coating. For fields severely affected by soilborne diseases and underground pests, implement chemical soil treatments.

(3) Agricultural practices. In areas where Fusarium head blight, root rot, stem base rot, and other soil-borne diseases are prevalent, implement straw return to the field and meticulous land preparation; strive for deep plowing to bury corn residues in the soil, thereby reducing the initial pathogen population. In regions or fields with severe cyst nematode infestation, prioritize the application of compaction measures after sowing and during the autumn seedling stage to control disease; where conditions permit, combine post-emergence winter irrigation with compaction of wheat seedlings. In summer‑overwintering zones of wheat stripe rust, eliminate volunteer wheat seedlings through manual removal and herbicide application. Adjust the sowing date according to soil moisture conditions by adopting timely late sowing to reduce early‑season infection by stripe rust, mitigate seedling‑stage diseases, and lower the inoculum level in autumn seedlings.

(4) Autumn seedling disease management. Based on the incidence of stripe rust, powdery mildew, and sheath blight during the autumn seedling stage, implement spot‑treatment followed by blanket application when disease severity is high. In winter‑breeding areas for stripe rust, intensify disease monitoring and apply chemical control to fields showing early infection; triazole fungicides are recommended for spray applications. In regions where sheath blight occurs during the seedling stage, strengthen surveillance and initiate timely control measures. In areas prone to wheat yellow dwarf virus, in addition to seed treatment for prevention, pay close attention to controlling aphids during the seedling phase to reduce the risk of disease transmission; insecticides such as imidacloprid or pymetrozine can be used to manage aphid populations.

4 Safeguard Measures

(1) Strengthen organizational leadership. Actively seek the attention and support of leaders, scientifically formulate work plans, refine implementation measures, and assign clear responsibilities. By convening meetings and organizing relevant initiatives, promptly communicate the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs’ requirements for autumn‑winter crop production, and make specific arrangements for seed treatment with fungicides prior to winter wheat sowing as well as for pest and disease control during the autumn and winter seasons.

(2) Strengthen service and guidance. With tight timelines and heavy workloads for wheat seed treatment prior to autumn sowing, agricultural and rural departments at all levels, along with plant protection agencies, should organize local efforts to ensure adequate supplies of protective agents, seed‑treatment equipment, and control machinery. During the critical autumn‑sowing period, deploy technical teams to the front lines of production, conduct on-site training, and provide hands-on technical guidance to ensure that chemical seed treatment and autumn seedling‑stage pest and disease management are effectively implemented. At the same time, reinforce oversight of the pesticide market, rigorously investigate illegal activities, and resolutely prevent incidents in which counterfeit or substandard pesticides harm farmers and undermine agricultural production.

(3) Strengthen monitoring and early warning. Plant protection agencies at all levels should conduct a comprehensive analysis of soil-borne and seed-borne pests and diseases, as well as pest and disease incidence during the seedling stage, in their respective regions; identify priority targets for autumn‑sowing seed‑treatment control; and provide guidance to farmers on the scientific application of seed treatments. While maintaining systematic monitoring, they should also intensify large‑scale surveys to accurately and promptly assess the distribution and prevalence of pests and diseases, thereby providing evidence‑based guidance for prevention and control measures.

(4) Strengthen demonstration and leadership. Deeply advance the establishment of green pest and disease control demonstration zones for wheat, fully leverage the roles of specialized, unified pest management and green control demonstration bases, vigorously promote green control measures such as highly effective, low-toxicity pesticides, implement integrated management of diseases and pests during the seedling stage, and foster scientific approaches to disease and pest prevention and control.

(5) Strengthen publicity and guidance. Make full use of television, radio, newspapers, and other media to vigorously promote the critical role of seed treatment with chemical agents in autumn sowing. Publicize successful practices, effective approaches, and exemplary cases from across regions to foster a favorable public opinion environment for advancing this work. At the same time, enhance information reporting by promptly disseminating updates on autumn sowing progress and seed‑treatment‑based pest and disease control measures, thereby facilitating the smooth implementation of wheat pest and disease management during the autumn and winter seasons.

Source: Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs

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