Application of meta-analysis in plant pathology: a case study examining the impact of fungicides on wheat yield loss from the yellow spot - septoria nodorum blotch disease complex in Western Australia

Authors

Kawsar P. Salam, Department of Agriculture and Food, Western AustraliaFollow
Geoff J. Thomas, Department of Agriculture and Food, Western AustraliaFollow
Ciara Beard, Department of Agriculture and Food, Western AustraliaFollow
Rob Loughman, Department of Agriculture and Food, Western AustraliaFollow
William J. MacLeod, Department of Agriculture and Food, Western AustraliaFollow
Moin U. Salam, Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-23-2013

Journal Title

Food Security

ISSN

2372-0115

Keywords

Fungicide, Meta-analysis, Pyrenophora tritici - repentis, Tan spot, Western Australia, Wheat, Yellow spot, Yield gain, Yield loss, Yield response, Stagonospora nodorum, Septoria nodorum blotch

Disciplines

Agronomy and Crop Sciences | Biosecurity

Abstract

This work was done to demonstrate the opportunities provided by application of meta-analysis in plant pathology. It was a case study used to determine the effectiveness of foliar fungicides in minimising yield loss from a complex of yellow spot (Pyrenophora tritici-repentis) and septoria nodorum blotch (Stagonospora nodorum, teleomorph: Phaeosphaeria nodorum) (YS-SNB disease complex) on wheat in the northern grain-belt of Western Australia. Forty-seven datasets of experimental results from 14 growing seasons, using 18 varieties sprayed one to three times, predominantly with tebuconazole or propiconazole fungicides, were analysed. Across the datasets, the wheat yield gain from fungicide application was 297 kg ha⁻¹ with a 95 % confidence interval of 11.6 kg ha⁻¹. Significant yield gains resulted from single or multiple applications of fungicides. Both propiconazole and tebuconazole, increased yield of wheat affected by the YS–SNB disease complex, with yield gain from propiconazole being greater than that from tebuconazole. Yield response varied significantly among crop growing seasons. Meta-analysis was able to aggregate a large number of experimental results and answer important questions related to the variables that influenced those results; in this case the effectiveness of fungicides in minimising yield loss from the YS-SNB disease complex on wheat. It also identified areas where further research needs to be done. It is concluded that meta-analysis has the potential to contribute to similar analyses in other crop disease systems.

Recommended Citation

Salam, K P, Thomas, G J, Beard, C, Loughman, R, MacLeod, W J, and Salam, M U. (2013), Application of meta-analysis in plant pathology: a case study examining the impact of fungicides on wheat yield loss from the yellow spot - septoria nodorum blotch disease complex in Western Australia. Food Security, 5, 319-325.
https://library.dpird.wa.gov.au/bs_research/39