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Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus in Small Grains
The barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV), also called red leaf in oats, can infect barley, oats, rye and wheat as well as numerous species of grasses. It occurs in most parts of the world and is considered the most common viral disease of cereal crops. BYDV is transmitted by several species of aphids and occurs in many strains or types.
Symptoms vary with the host species and the stage of crop development. Infections at the seedling stage may result in death or dwarfing as well as sterile heads.
Leaves turn yellow from the tip down, along the leaf margins or in blotchy patches. Infected barley leaves, particularly flag leaves, turn bright yellow; in oats, the leaves may turn from red to purple. Discolored areas enlarge and progress to the base of the plant. Heads may be wholly or partially sterile. There may also be an increase or decrease of tillers produced by infected plants. Cereal plants infected early in the season may be shaded out by healthy or late infected surrounding plants. Winter wheat seedlings may be 100 per cent infected with BYDV before freeze-up in the fall.
BYDV affects yields by stunting, reduced tillering, sterility, and failure to fill kernels. However, because the aphids must move in from southern states, early planted grains can avoid yield and quality loss. However in June plantings, yield losses can reach 30-50 percent in small grains.
Bright yellow flag leaves in barley by late June or early July will indicate little or no yield contribution from those plants. Severe stunting in winter wheat by mid-May could indicate crop failure from one or more strains of BYDV.
Management Strategy
Use tolerant varieties. Only oat has resistant varieties.
Seed early in the spring. This will allow for maximum growth of the cereal crop before possible infection by migrating aphids.
Insecticide use ton control early populations of aphids can, if timed, correctly reduce the spread of the virus and may increase yield and test weight. Insecticides have given inconsistent results in trials.
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