A ProMED-mail post
<http://www.promedmail.org>
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International Society for Infectious Diseases <http://www.isid.org>
Date: Tue 29 Sep 2009
Source: The Wall Street Journal online [edited] <http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20090929-714387.html> (subscription
required)
Rain and disease are continuing to impair the wheat crop in Parana,
Brazil's no. 1 producer state, according Parana's agricultural secretariat
(Seab). "Parana's wheat production could fall even lower if the rain
continues to slow the harvest," technical specialist Otmar Hubner said.
Seab said recently that Parana state, which accounts for over half of
Brazil's area planted with wheat, should produce a crop of 2.8 million
metric tons in 2008-09. This is below Seab's previous estimate of 3.17
million tons for 2008-09 and the 3.2 million tons in 2007-08.
Hubner said Parana's wheat harvest has been slowed by the unseasonal rain.
The wheat harvest is 45 per cent complete compared with 70 per cent at the
same time last year [2008], he said. As a result of the damp weather,
Parana's wheat crop has seen a rise in crop diseases, such as fungus, as
well as a decline in quality, he said. "The situation is very worrying," he
added.
[byline: Tony Danby]
--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail correspondent Susan Baekeland
[A large number of diseases due to fungi and other pathogens can affect
wheat. The wet conditions described above would favour many of them and
also increase the risk of simultaneous infections by multiple pathogens,
which can lead to severe yield losses. In addition, the humidity would also
increase the risk of wheat stored after harvest to be affected by pathogens
and pests adding to yield losses and decreasing the grain quality.
Maps
Brazil:
<http://en.18dao.net/images/9/96/Map-Brazil.jpg>
<http://healthmap.org/r/00CC>
Parana:
<http://www.v-brazil.com/tourism/parana/map-parana.html>
Links
List of wheat diseases and pathogens:
<http://www.apsnet.org/online/common/names/wheat.asp>. - Mod.DHA]
