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.