Controlling Fusarium head blight in wheat through a Mixture of varieties in an organic production system

Abstract

In the organic production system, the management of diseases and pests is based on agricultural practices rather than the use of certified phytosanitary inputs. The mixture of varieties is an agricultural practice that has shown its interest not only in the management of diseases and pests but also in the increase and stability of crop yields. The objective of our study is to evaluate the performance of this practice in the management of fusarium head blight in wheat. To achieve this objective, we conducted four trials. Two trials (one on durum and the other on soft wheat) in 2019 on a certified organic farm and the two trials were repeated in 2020. During the two years of experimentation, we compared the mixture of four durum wheat varieties and the mixture of four soft wheat varieties with the monoculture varieties. In the field, we evaluated the severity of Fusarium head blight and wheat yield components as well as the grain yield. The results showed a significant difference between the different treatments for Fusarium head blight severity and yield components for both species and in both years of the experiment.