The sorghum is growing rapidly in the field, thanks to the
rains that we had a couple weeks ago. I’ve been amazed at how much progress a
single plant can make in as little as one day’s time, not to mention the
variation of the plots –varying height, leaf widths, even the heads and seed of
the plant. Not having any prior
experience with sorghum, and really no farming experience either, I learn so
many new things each day.
 |
| *Anthracnose of Sorghum |
One experiment that is being performed this year is testing
for anthracnose resistance. Anthracnose is a fungal disease that is
particularly prevalent in hot, humid areas.¹ It affects the foliage and stems
of the sorghum and can cause severe yield losses.² To test the plants for
resistance we inoculated one of the fields with this pathogen. The fungus is
spread by wind and water, so the past few weeks were ideal for inoculating. To
do this, anthracnose was propagated in lab and then mixed with seed which would
be scattered on healthy sorghum. We walked the field (the plants were close to
waist height by this point) dropping about a tablespoons worth of seed every
few plants, aiming for the whorls of the leaves. It wasn’t necessary to get the
fungus-coated seed in every plant because infection would spread through the
plots as the plants with seed became infected. Now, we just wait for the
anthracnose to do its dirty work.
 |
| Whorl of a plant |
It was an adventure, to say the least, trying to traverse
the fields these past few weeks. With all the rain, mud is an obvious and
unavoidable evil. Mud equates to heavy rubber boots and parking far from the
field to prevent the vehicles from getting stuck. For me, it equated to mud-covered
everything, getting my boots trapped in the goopy, quicksand-like substance,
and a few war wounds in the form of blisters. But it also meant cooler
temperatures which is always a plus! In the next few weeks, work is going to
get crazy as we begin crossing, so check back soon for updates.
Toodles!
References:
¹http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/27455/anthracnose
²http://plantdiseasehandbook.tamu.edu/food-crops/cereal-crops/grain-sorghum/
No comments:
Post a Comment