Wheat fusarium head blight 2001 epidemic in the southern Argentinian pampas

Abstract

Wheat Head Blight or Scab is frequently a destructive fungal disease caused by several Fusarium species but F. graminearum Schwabe [teleomorph Gibberella zeae (Schwein) Petch; synonym = G. saubinetii (Mont.) Sacc.] is the principal causal agent. The disease is common in humid and semi-humid wheat (Triticum spp.) cropping areas around the world. Epidemics of Fusarium head blight (FHB) seem to be increasing globally during the last two decades. In Argentina and some other countries of South America, damages have been very significant. In the USA, Canada and other wheat cropping areas, several harvests have been affected by numerous epidemics.