Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
starting from flowering, or both pre- and post-flowering time windows. The currently-used
models, which were 80% accurate in predicting the data used in model development, utilize
only pre-flowering environmental data. The implicit assumption underlying the models is that
scab epidemics are determined (at least in part) by inoculum availability at flowering and that
the weather immediately preceding flowering determines the magnitude of the available
inoculum. In 2004, Penn State and Ohio State Universities deployed the predictive system in
a Web-based format for evaluation purposes in 23 states. Separate models were used for
winter wheat with a low level of corn residue, winter wheat with a high level of corn residue,
and spring wheat production systems. Scab risk maps were produced at a 20-km resolution
using temperature and relative humidity data. The model is available on the Internet site
http://www.wheatscab.psu.edu/riskTool.html
6.
C
ONCLUSIONS AND
F
UTURE
O
UTLOOK ON THE
P
REVENTION OF
FHB
AND
DON
C
ONTAMINATION IN
W
HEAT
In these sections it has been illustrated that Fusarium head blight and
Fusarium
toxin
contamination of soft and durum wheat depends on many factors. This means that a unique
solution to this problem cannot exist.
Thus, the producers' objective must be to find technical strategies that can minimize the
risk of DON contamination as much as possible in wheat grain, flour, semolina and in
foodstuffs, taking into account that a total absence of the toxin is almost impossible in the
field.
In order to reduce the risk of contamination, it is necessary for producers to adopt a
strategy that integrates and modulates all of the preventive measures presented in section 4. In
other words, it is necessary for producers to make use of the available wheat varieties that are
known to be more resistant and to apply all of the good agricultural practices tuned to a
determined cultivation area.
Even though this kind of strategy could appear to be easy to apply, the use of this type of
approach is only just a beginning. In fact, until now, soft and durum wheat production has
been dominated by strategies aimed at maximising the productivity and the technological
quality for the transformation industry. These aspects will doubtlessly continue to guide the
decisions of the producers and of the whole food and feed production chain, but now they will
also have to pay attention to the safety aspects, which are considered a fundamental pre-
requisite in cereal production. Thus, all of the agricultural practices aimed at the optimization
of productivity and technological quality should now be inserted into production strategies
aimed at the reduction of the presence of contaminants like DON, not the other way around.
In this context, the higher the probability of running into high DON contamination, the
tighter the agricultural practice constraint necessary to reduce the risk of FHB and
consequently the more the other cultivation possibilities will need to be reduced to improve
other technical aspects.
In an environment with a high DON contamination risk, the agronomic constraint to
prevent this toxin could become so tight that the production destined to specific products
(such as baby food) becomes economically inconvenient, or that the premium prices
necessary to compensate the losses or the higher costs for more expensive agricultural
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