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AgriLife experts discuss fumonisin contamination, possible avoidance practices

18Oct

Writer: Kay Ledbetter, 806-677-5608, skledbetter@ag.tamu.edu
Contact: Dr. Tom Isakeit, 979-862-1340, t-isakeit@tamu.edu
Dr. Wenwei Xu, 806-746-6101, wxu@ag.tamu.edu

AMARILLO – Texas A&M AgriLife officials are offering some best management practices for producers to keep in mind as harvest continues and for next year after fumonisin contamination has been found in truckloads of corn across the Texas High Plains.

Tom Isakeit sampling corn

Dr. Tom Isakeit, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service plant pathologist in College Station, spent several days collecting samples in the High Plains for fumonisin contamination testing. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo by Dr. Jourdan Bell)

Dr. Tom Isakeit, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service plant pathologist in College Station, said this year nothing can be done to minimize fumonisin already present in the standing crop; however, producers can make a few changes during harvest to possibly reduce the amount of contaminated grain collected.

“You can adjust the combine settings to kick out the smaller grain kernels that tend to have much higher levels of contamination of fumonisin,” Isakeit said.

Fumonisin toxin is produced when certain Fusarium fungi are present on the corn, although not all Fusarium-infected kernels will have fumonisin, he said. The only way to know if the toxin is present is to have a chemical test run.

But there are visible symptoms of the fungal infection, including a white discoloration of the kernels, and when they dry down they will be smaller or lighter than the healthy kernels, Isakeit said.

The severity can be lessened by cleaning the seed or separating the damaged kernels out, he said. Sometimes just a few kernels can cause the higher concentrations. And though it is not done much in Texas, artificially drying the corn from a high moisture of 24 percent to 15 percent in a 24-hour period can also minimize contamination. Optimum levels of fumonisin production occur between 18-20 percent moisture.

Also, producers should segregate portions of the field if there was moisture stress, keeping corn from the drought-stressed areas of the field separate from the rest of the field, Isakeit said.

“The worst damage generally occurs around the edges of the field,” he said. “What you find on the outside for fumonisin contamination might not be what you find in the middle of the field.”

Isakeit also warned that putting corn into storage won’t get rid of the fumonisin contamination, but high levels of moisture or some leakage after placement in bins can add to the problem.

“For storage, you want to have your corn dry and keep it dry,” he said. “Make sure the bins are operated properly and are well ventilated.”

Beyond this year, Isakeit and Dr. Wenwei Xu, Texas A&M AgriLife Research corn breeder in Lubbock, offered some management practices that could help possibly control the problem in the future.

Wenwei Xu examines corn

Dr. Wenwei Xu, Texas A&M AgriLife Research corn breeder in Lubbock, examines a field of corn in the southern High Plains of Texas for Fusarium fungus disease. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo by Dr. Jourdan Bell)

Both said there is no product available that can be applied to prevent fumonisin, so minimizing the contamination in the future will require a combination of hybrid selection and cultural practices.

Isakeit said producers should pay close attention to any hybrid differences out in fields this year, adding “that might be the very least we can do now.”

Xu said there is a clear difference in terms of Fusarium fungus infection among hybrids, and there is a clear difference in terms of susceptibility to common smut.

Resistance to Fusarium fungus disease, common smut and earworm damage are all factors that should play into hybrid selection, he said.

“If a hybrid is susceptible to these, it doesn’t mean every field will be severe, but it can be elevated in bad years and the kernel damage under different environmental conditions can lead to more contamination,” Xu said.

“Based on my observations and conversations with farmers, you can find the problem in both dryland and irrigated corn and short-season to full-season corn,” he said. “It varies from field to field, and the hybrid, growth management, hot temperatures and drought stress will determine the severity.

Corn ears

Corn hybrids with ears that remain standing instead of falling at maturity like these can retain moisture and prevent the ear from drying down. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo by Dr. Jourdan Bell)

“Farmers need to be paying attention to the factors that contributed to high fumonisin contamination this year when selecting their hybrid next year,” Xu said.

Hybrids less prone to loss of kernel integrity should be planted, Isakeit said.

In 2008, there was an outbreak of fumonisin in this the High Plains and loss of kernel integrity was associated with hybrids that had problems with contamination, according to Dr. Gary Odvody, AgriLife Research plant pathologist, Corpus Christi. This loss of kernel integrity was seen in hybrids with high yield potential when they were subjected to late-season stress.

Insect resistance, including that in transgenic hybrids, can help reduce contamination by reducing wounds in the kernels that allow entry of the fungus.

Also, he said other factors in fumonisin contamination are the common smut disease, which can act as a sponge and retains moisture in the ear, allowing the Fusarium fungus to grow and produce toxin; and hybrids with ears that remain standing instead of falling at maturity, which retains moisture and prevents the ear from drying down.

Some other crop management strategies he outlined are:

– Control weeds to reduce moisture stress.

– Optimize irrigation to avoid stress between flowering and grain fill.

– Maintain optimal nitrogen fertility, especially with high plant populations.

For more information, go to http://aflatoxin.tamu.edu/ or    http://www.cornmycotoxins.com.

AgriLife Research remote sensing technology aims to solve critical crop diseases

19Jul

  • Writer: Blair Fannin, 979-845-2259, b-fannin@tamu.edu
  • Contact: Dr. Alex Thomasson, 979-458-3598, thomasson@tamu.edu

COLLEGE STATION – Sensor technology could possibly solve many challenges of crop production,  and Texas A&M AgriLife Research faculty are aggressively attempting to find new solutions.

Dr. Alex Thomasson, an AgriLife Research biological and agricultural engineer, and Dr. Seth Murray, AgriLife Research corn breeder, both in College Station, and others are working jointly on several projects.

One project, an unmanned ground phenotyping system, provides data that can be used to aid decisions in breeding and production agriculture through techniques like conceptual modeling and spatial prediction, according to the scientists.

Dr. Seth Murray, Texas A&M AgriLife Research corn breeder, College Station, looks over one of the sensors used as part of a ground phenotyping vehicle used in collecting real-time crop data. (Texas A&M AgriLife Research photo by Blair Fannin)

Dr. Seth Murray, Texas A&M AgriLife Research corn breeder, College Station, looks over one of the sensors used as part of a ground phenotyping vehicle used in collecting real-time crop data. (Texas A&M AgriLife Research photo by Blair Fannin)

“The current ground phenotyping vehicle we are working on allows us to drive the vehicle through a field of corn and collect real-time data,” Thomasson said. “We are also developing an autonomous phenotyping vehicle that will navigate itself through the field based on GPS. The purpose of these vehicles is to be able to drive through the field even over mature corn so we can collect data all the way through its growth cycle. This allows us to measure the height of the plant, evaluate the temperature of the plant and also get light reflectance in various wavelengths to determine the health of the plant.

“We can also look at other characteristics like the drought tolerance of the plant. The data these machines collect will ultimately enable the breeder to make selections from the best varieties and to do so much quicker.”

Thomasson and other AgriLife and U.S. Department of Agriculture scientists are developing the ability to use remote sensing to detect and treat cotton root rot. Cotton Incorporated has been a strong supporter of this research, some of which is occurring at the Stiles Farm at Thrall.

“The cotton root rot project involves a lot of remote-sensing work to detect the locations of infection within individual fields,” he said. “It’s expensive for cotton farmers, not only the yield losses from the disease but the treatment to prevent it. It’s costing them about $50 an acre to treat the fields, but this research can save them a lot of money by enabling them to treat only the infected areas of a field. Some are trying to use satellite data to identify infected areas, but the image resolution is low. We’ve begun using UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles), which give us images with extremely high resolution. We have the potential to see where each infected plant is so we can know exactly where to place fungicide in subsequent seasons.”

The remote-sensing research is related to a broader scope of research projects implemented by AgriLife Research. The Texas A&M Coordinated Agricultural Unmanned Aerial Systems project and Ground Vehicle Validation is a collaboration of more than 40 faculty members within the Texas A&M University System.

A ground phenotyping vehicle is being tested to collect real-time crop data. (Texas A&M AgriLife Research photo by Blair Fannin)

A ground phenotyping vehicle is being tested to collect real-time crop data. (Texas A&M AgriLife Research photo by Blair Fannin)

Led by AgriLife Research, the project also involves the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station, the Center for Autonomous Vehicles and Sensor Systems, and the Center for Geospatial Applications and Technologies, as well as businesses and farmers. The research centers on 1,400 acres of AgriLife Research fields near College Station where corn, cotton, sorghum and wheat, as well as peaches and perennial grasses are grown.

For more, visit http://bit.ly/1TZMBl1 .

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