Experts warn: Be on alert for a resurgence of wheat stripe rust in 2021.

Release Date:

2021-01-04

Recently, a reporter learned from the Shaanxi Plant Protection Station that, as of December 14, wheat stripe rust had broken out across 30 counties and county-level districts in six cities—Baoji, Xianyang, Xi’an, Weinan, Hanzhong, and Ankang—covering an area of 710,500 mu. This marks the year with the highest number of affected counties and the largest total infected area in the past decade (since 2010).

According to analysis, compared with the same period in 2019—when 522,900 mu were affected across 22 counties and county-level districts in five cities—the current year sees an additional 187,600 mu spread across one city and eight counties and county-level districts. Moreover, this represents a 630,500-mu increase over the 2010–2019 average of 180,000 mu across seven counties and county-level districts. This year, the number of counties reporting wheat stripe rust, the affected area, and the severity of the disease are all greater than last year and higher than the long-term average for this time of year, indicating that the pathogen inoculum has reached levels sufficient to trigger a major outbreak. Local authorities should continue to strengthen monitoring, promptly track disease dynamics, tailor interventions to local conditions, provide site-specific guidance, and curb the spread of stripe rust.

Why has stripe rust been so severe this year? Professor Wang Baotong of the College of Plant Protection at Northwest A&F University outlined five key reasons for the early‑season infection in autumn seedlings. First, the initial pathogen inoculum was substantial. In Gansu Province, the primary source area for wheat stripe rust, the 2019 autumn seedling inoculum was abundant, creating conditions that allowed sufficient pathogen to spread into eastern wheat-growing regions and providing a large overwintering reservoir for the disease in Shaanxi’s Guanzhong Plain. Second, cultivar resistance is weak, particularly among the major varieties, which are susceptible during the seedling stage. With the continuous emergence of new virulent races of the stripe rust pathogen, most of Shaanxi’s principal wheat varieties have lost their resistance; only a few exhibit some level of resistance at the adult‑plant stage, thereby facilitating widespread infection in autumn seedlings. Third, meteorological conditions were favorable: rainfall across the province was above average before and after autumn sowing, soil moisture remained adequate, field humidity stayed high during autumn and winter, and morning and evening leaf dew formation was normal—conditions all conducive to the onset and rapid spread of stripe rust on autumn seedlings. Fourth, autumn seedlings were excessively dense and vigorous. During the autumn sowing period, northern counties in the Guanzhong region, such as Baoji and Xianyang, planted wheat 7–10 days earlier than usual and at higher seeding rates. Consequently, many fields exhibited overly dense stands, compounded by high field humidity and relatively warm temperatures—factors that promoted repeated infections, multiplication, and widespread dissemination of the pathogen. Fifth, seed‑treatment practices were inadequate: emphasis was placed on insecticides while fungicide application was neglected. Although Shaanxi vigorously promoted chemical seed treatments this autumn, in practice most areas applied only insecticides to control underground pests, overlooking the use of fungicides—another critical factor contributing to the severity of autumn seedling infections in the province.

In response to the severe and widespread incidence of wheat diseases during this year’s autumn seedling stage, it is recommended that the Shaanxi Provincial Plant Protection Department closely monitor disease dynamics in winter fields through a combination of fixed-point observations and nationwide surveys, ensuring timely tracking of disease progression. Particular attention should be paid to the impact of winter temperatures on field disease development. In early spring 2021, conduct early monitoring of designated observation plots to promptly assess the overwintering inoculum levels, thereby providing first-hand data to support spring-time control of wheat stripe rust.

Source: Agricultural Science and Technology Daily

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