Integrated management of major wheat diseases in Brazil: an example for the Southern Cone region of Latin America

Wheat is an important crop in the Southern Cone region of Latin America. Some of the common wheat diseases in this region are Xanthomonas streak, spot blotch, tan spot, and leaf blotch and the rusts. Rice blast on wheat could also be a problem in certain years. Disease management through varietal resistance, cultural practices including appropriate fungicidal spraying schedule, levels of tolerance for field and seed infections and seed treatment criteria, have been integrated and used for several years in Brazil. Emphasis in integrated disease management (IDM) is on reduction in use of fungicides and consequently in the cost of production. Wheat productivity in Brazil has almost doubled during the past 10 years, owing mainly to the IDM approach. The IDM practices used in Brazil for each of the major diseases can also be adopted in other Latin-American countries with similar agroecosystems.