Latest Survey Data
- Rust Issues: Leaf and yellow rust are serious constraints to wheat production. Yellow rust epidemics in 2009 caused national losses estimated at 20%, with the variety Achtar (Yr27) severely affected.
- Ug99 Status: No Ug99 lineage races have been detected in Morocco.
Situation Updates:
Extensive surveys were carried out by Dr Ramdani, the INRA cereal pathologist, during the second fortnight of April and the first week of May 2011. The surveys covered the major wheat growing areas and were conducted when the growth stage of wheat ranged from anthesis to physiological maturity. The data recorded were host species and its growth stage, visual assessment of grain yield and incidence and severity of the main diseases. A total of 79 fields of bread wheat and 22 fields of durum wheat were inspected. The covered areas were Gharb, Middle Atlas, Pré-Rif, Saïs, tadla, Zaïr, Zemmour, High Atlas, and Oasis. Yellow rust was detected on 70% of inspected fields of bread wheat whilst it was almost absent on durum. In contrast, leaf rust was detected on 65 and 73% of inspected fields of bread and durum respectively. Traces of Stem rust were detected on bread wheat at Marchouch experimental station (ZAIR) and on both wheats at CRRA Meknès experimental station (SAIS).
Despites the wide occurrence of leaf rust on both host species, their severity was low on the majority of fields. Traces were detected on 56 and 45% of bread and durum fields respectively. Yellow rust that was detected in all inspected areas was relatively more severe than leaf rust but its severity didn’t exceed 5% on 35% of inspected fields.
Extensive surveys were carried out by Dr Ramdani, the INRA cereal pathologist, during the second fortnight of April and the first week of May 2010. The surveys covered the major wheat growing areas and were conducted when the growth stage of wheat ranged from anthesis to physiological maturity. The data recorded were host species and its growth stage, visual assessment of grain yield and incidence and severity of the main diseases. A total of 72 fields were surveyed using standard BGRI methodology, of these 53 fields were Bread Wheat and 19 fields Durum Wheat. The surveys covered all the major diseases of wheat and not just rusts.
This survey revealed that the most prevalent diseases on both bread and durum wheats were Septoria-like diseases, leaf rust, yellow rust and at some extent root rot complex. Powdery mildew and common bunt were less prevalent and were detected both on bread wheat and on durum wheat, whilst stem rust was observed on some fields of durum and loose smut on some fields of bread wheat. On the whole, 91 and 79% of bread wheat and durum wheat fields respectively were infected by SLD, whilst leaf rust was detected on 75 and 58% respectively. Yellow rust was detected on 64 and 32% of bread wheat fields and durum fields respectively. The severity of SLD ranged from zero to 100% with Gharb being the area where Septoria was most severe followed by Zemour and Pré-Rif areas. The coefficient of infection for leaf rust ranged from zero to 50 with the highest infection observed in Sais area. That for Yellow rust ranged from zero to 80 with the highest infection observed in Sais, Tadla and Middle Atlas.