Diseases, pests and disorders of oats

Abstract

Oats, in common with all our major crop plants, suffer from a wide range of diseases, pests and disorders. Some of these are highly specific, even to particular oat varieties, and others have a broad host range, each bringing with it particular problems of control. All stages of plant growth and development can be affected, and particular pathogens, pests or disorders may cause damage only at a certain growth stage or on a particular plant part or organ, whereas others are more generally damaging. Some authors choose to categorize pathogens on the basis of the part of the plant affected, e.g. root, stem base, foliage, inflorescence etc. but, in this chapter, a more traditional approach is adopted and each pathogenic organism and abiotic disorder is treated separately. No attempt has been made to give a comprehensive bibliography and only references that are themselves syntheses are listed (Boewe, 1960; Gair et al., 1972; Dickson, 1947; Western, 1971; Jones and Cifford, 1983; Simons, 1986; Smith et al., 1988). A brief description of the causal agent, its importance, symptomatology and epidemiology is given for each disease, together with general control considerations. It should be noted that control measures may be applicable to more than one disease and so broad benefits can be achieved from, for example, chemical seed treatment or ploughing-in crop debris.