Crop loss assessment studies on the effects of barley yellow dwarf virus in wheat in Victoria

Abstract

The effect of barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV) infection on grain yield of wheat, cv. Olympic, was determined over 3 years at three sites in Victoria in field plots inoculated with infective Rhopalosiphum padi (L.). Inoculation before tillering lowered grain yields by 9-79 %, whereas inoculation at early stem extension lowered yields by only 6-9 %. There was a linear relationship between the percentage of plants infected with BYDV at an early stage of growth and grain yield at all sites. Other components of yield affected included numbers of tillers, numbers of heads with sterile terminal spikelets, grain weight per head and weight of individual grains.