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Reaction of Some Varieties and Strains of Winter Wheat to Artificial Inoculation of Loose Smut 1
Author(s) -
Atkins I. M.
Publication year - 1943
Publication title -
agronomy journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.752
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1435-0645
pISSN - 0002-1962
DOI - 10.2134/agronj1943.00021962003500030003x
Subject(s) - agricultural experiment station , agriculture , division (mathematics) , citation , agronomy , agricultural science , mathematics , horticulture , biology , geography , library science , computer science , archaeology , arithmetic
URING the period 1931 to 1939, inclusive, loose smut of wheat, D caused by Ustilago tritici (Pers.) Rostr., caused an estimated annual loss in Texas of 454,000 bushels, or approximately 1.87~ of the crop (7).3 Since the major portion of the wheat crop is grown in the less humid sections of the state where loose smut is a minor factor in production, it is evident that the disease is of considerable importance in the more humid sections of central and north central Texas. In these areas loose smut often causes losses on individual farms of from 5 to IO%, which are sufficiently high to be of serious economic importance to the individual farmer. All commercial varieties now grown are very susceptible to the disease. Because of the economic importance of loose smut in central Texas and the need for information on sources of resistance, and in order properly to plan the wheat breeding program at Texas Substation No. 6, Denton, Tex., tests of varietal resistance by means of artificial inoculations were started in the spring of 1937.