BARLEY AND OATS CROPS AS ALTERNATIVES TO WHEAT: PRODUCTION AND INCIDENCE OF FOLIAR DISEASES UNDER TWO FERTILIZATION LEVELS

Abstract

Current policies have developed in Argentina together with the presence of disease led to growing decline in wheat area. The aim of this study was to evaluate the possibility of including barley and oats as wheat productive alternatives in the area of influence of the Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Forestales, de la Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Provincia de Buenos Aires and evaluate the susceptibility of these crops to foliar diseases present under two levels of fertilization. Three winter cereal crops were evaluated: wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), oats (Avena sativa L.) and barley (Hordeum distichun L.) during the seasons: 2011 and 2012, under two levels of N fertilization 50 kg N ha-and 70 kg N ha-1. Severity caused by pathogens, biomass, yield and its components were determined. In 2011, barley and wheat showed the highest values of biomass and yield, without significant differences between them. In 2012, barley showed intermediate values of biomass and yield and wheat presented the highest values. Yield losses in 2012 compared to 2011, in oats and barley were associated with fewer grains m-2, while a lower value of thousand kernel weight (TKW) accounted for this in wheat. Both barley and oats reached higher yields than the average yield recorded in Buenos Aires Province in both seasons. In 2012, no response to fertilization was observed, which is most likely associated with fertilizer leaching due to heavy rains. Nevertheless, this could also indicate that the major limiting factor for high yields this year was the incidence of foliar diseases, rather than nitrogen availability.