Incidence of soil‐borne plant pathogens isolated from barley and winter wheat, and other crops in the rotation, on Prince Edward Island

Barley and winter wheat were sampled over 3 years to characterize soil‐borne organisms involved with cereal crown and root disease complexes. Winter wheat crowns were infected more often by Fusarium avenaceum and F. sambucinum than barley crowns. Bipolaris sorokiniana and F. graminearum were more common in crown tissue of barley underseeded with clover than in winter wheat crowns. In roots, the incidence of F. avenaceum was highest in winter wheat. In soil, populations of Rhizoctonia solani and F. sambucinum were higher in winter wheat than barley underseeded with ryegrass. Stunt nematodes (Tylenchorhynchus spp.) were greatest in winter wheat and barley underseeded with ryegrass. The incidence of F. avenaceum in roots of winter wheat correlated positively with the severity of crown and root rot symptoms. The severity of barley crown and root rot correlated positively with the incidence of R. solani in crowns, F. avenaceum in crowns and roots, B. sorokiniana in roots, and numbers of stunt nematodes in the soil. The incidence of soil‐borne organisms was also recorded in annual ryegrass. soybean, potato, pea, and clover which were grown in rotation with barley and winter wheat. The incidence of R. solani and F. avenaceum was highest in clover crown tissue, and F. sambucinum was prevalent in soybean hypocotyls. Soil population levels of R. solani, F. avenaceum , and stunt nematodes were greatest in ryegrass and pea soil just prior to ploughing down or harvesting these crops, respectively.