Wheat Wellness Quiz Quiz

Explore essential strategies and knowledge for managing and preventing common wheat diseases to support sustainable agricultural practices. This quiz covers identification, management, and prevention tactics relevant to healthy wheat production.

1. Fungal Disease Identification

   A wheat farmer notices orange-brown pustules forming in elongated streaks on the leaf surfaces. Which disease is most likely responsible for these symptoms?

   1. Loose smut
   2. Powdery mildew
   3. Karnal bunt
   4. Stripe rust

   Explanation: Stripe rust causes characteristic orange-yellow pustules arranged in stripes on wheat leaves. Karnal bunt affects kernels rather than leaves, powdery mildew appears as white powdery growths, and loose smut affects the grain heads, not the leaves.

2. Disease Management Practice

   Which of the following strategies is recommended for managing take-all disease in wheat fields?

   1. Applying nitrogen only
   2. Overhead irrigation
   3. Increasing plant density
   4. Crop rotation

   Explanation: Crop rotation with non-host crops reduces take-all inoculum in soil and lowers disease pressure. Overhead irrigation may worsen moisture-related diseases, increasing plant density encourages humidity, and nitrogen alone does not manage take-all effectively.

3. Wheat Rust Control

   Applying fungicide at which wheat growth stage is most effective for controlling leaf rust?

   1. Root elongation
   2. Seed hardening
   3. Flag leaf emergence
   4. Germination

   Explanation: Flag leaf emergence is the critical stage for fungicide application because protecting this leaf preserves yield potential. Germination and root elongation occur too early, and seed hardening happens after key foliar diseases have already developed.

4. Resistant Varieties

   Why is planting disease-resistant wheat varieties an important component of integrated disease management?

   1. It eliminates the need for field monitoring
   2. It increases grain size directly
   3. It guarantees no disease presence
   4. It reduces reliance on chemical fungicides

   Explanation: Disease-resistant varieties help limit infections, decreasing the need for chemical controls. However, they do not guarantee an absence of disease, do not directly increase grain size, and do not replace the need for continued field monitoring.

5. Fusarium Head Blight Prevention

   Which action helps prevent Fusarium head blight in wheat when grown after maize?

   1. Applying more phosphorus
   2. Delaying harvest until late
   3. Spraying insecticides
   4. Plowing crop residues

   Explanation: Plowing under maize residues helps reduce Fusarium inoculum in the field. Phosphorus application and insecticides do not specifically target Fusarium, and delaying harvest may worsen grain contamination if the disease is present.