Importance
Historically, sugarcane smut was first noted in 1877, in the Natal region of South Africa. The disease has been a problem in almost all countries where sugarcane is grown. Sugarcane smut did not make it to the western hemisphere until the 1940s when it reached Argentina. Australia was the last major producer of sugarcane to be infected. In 1998, the western coast was infected but the major production centers for Australia are on the country's east coast. Now infected plants have been found on both sides of the country, making sugarcane smut an issue in all production centers. At times the disease would go unnoticed or undetected until it would completely wipe out huge tracts of the crop.
Sugarcane smut can cause any amount of loss to susceptible varieties. Anywhere from 30% to total crop failure could be seen. The reduction in yield is mainly dependent on the races of the pathogen present, the variety of sugarcane, and the environmental conditions. Sugarcane plants are ratoon, meaning the plant resprouts after it is harvested providing the next crop. Because of this perennial nature, a total crop failure can lead to the need to replant a field. Now, it is typical to replace areas that have been infected with resistant varieties of sugarcane.
Read more about this topic: Sugarcane Smut
Famous quotes containing the word importance:
“The importance of its hat to a form becomes
More definite. The sweeping brim of the hat
Makes of the form Most Merciful Capitan,
If the observer says so....”
—Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)
“People without imagination are beginning to tire of the importance attached to comfort, to culture, to leisure, to all that destroys imagination. This means that people are not really tired of comfort, culture and leisure, but of the use to which they are put, which is precisely what stops us enjoying them.”
—Raoul Vaneigem (b. 1934)
“Never before has a generation of parents faced such awesome competition with the mass media for their children’s attention. While parents tout the virtues of premarital virginity, drug-free living, nonviolent resolution of social conflict, or character over physical appearance, their values are daily challenged by television soaps, rock music lyrics, tabloid headlines, and movie scenes extolling the importance of physical appearance and conformity.”
—Marianne E. Neifert (20th century)