Chloe Morgan
Take-all is arguably the most significant constraint on the number of cereal crops grown within a rotation. By reducing root function, it reduces the efficiency with which crop inputs and water are captured and/or utilised reducing grain yield and quality. Average yield losses of 5-20% are common, however more than 50% of the crop can be lost when disease is severe. Rotational position, sowing date, variety, seed treatment and nutrient management are all known to affect severity of take-all in wheat. For more information on take-all click here. An ADAS trial this season investigated the interaction between varieties and seed treatments against this damaging disease. (KWS and CERTIS commissioned trial).
Located in Herefordshire on a second wheat site, the trial had very high levels of take-all following the mild winter. The dry summer resulted in clear visible effects of seed treatment across all varieties.
Harvested on the 4th August. Yield was increased in all four varieties (KWS Palladium, KWS Dawsum, KWS Zyatt and KWS Extase) where the Latitude seed treatment was added, ranging from an increase of 0.9t/ha to 1.8t/ha. Where latitude was added, all four varieties achieved a very similar yield, ranging from 7.0t/ha to 7.8t/ha. Without seed treatment yields were between 5.2t/ha and 6.5t/ha. Clearly there were also some significant varietal differences, Extase appeared to be most affected by take-all with the lowest untreated yield (5.2t/ha) and yield response of 1.8t/ha to seed treatment. Palladium was the least affected, however this still showed a yield response to Latitude of 0.9t/ha.

This indicates that the impact of take-all can be reduced by selecting varieties suited to second wheat situations and adding Latitude seed treatment to minimise damage.
Table 1: Yield corrected to 85% dry matter (t/ha) for each variety, seed treatment combination.
Treatment | Variety | Seed Treatment | Yield corrected to 85% dry matter (t/ha) |
---|---|---|---|
1 | KWS Palladium | SPD | 6.3 |
2 | KWS Palladium | SPD with Latitude | 7.2 |
3 | KWS Dawsum | SPD | 5.6 |
4 | KWS Dawsum | SPD with Latitude | 7.1 |
5 | KWS Zyatt | SPD | 6.5 |
6 | KWS Zyatt | SPD with Latitude | 7.8 |
7 | KWS Extase | SPD | 5.2 |
8 | KWS Extase | SPD with Latitude | 7.0 |
Variety | P Value | 0.017 | |
LSD | 0.67 | ||
Seed Treatment | P Value | <0.001 | |
LSD | 0.47 | ||
Variety* Seed Treatment | P Value | 0.535 | |
LSD | 0.95 |
ACTION • Carefully consider varieties for second wheat crops (AHDB Recommended list) • Consider the use of Latitude seed treatment where there is a risk of take-all, for more info see (AHDB PR268, and 342) |