Importance
If uncontrolled, loose smut can wipe out entire crops, since it replaces the grain. In areas where people depend on their grain crops for survival and don't have the money or technology resources to control it, the disease can be devastating. Not only does it wipe out the crop, growers cannot even try again next year since any seeds they were able to harvest will be infected and will not produce seed the following season.
Loose smut has recently become a more serious problem in the Ladakh region in the Himalayan mountains of India. This area has been particularly affected by global climate change and has experienced many new crop pests and diseases because of it. Barley is an important staple crop in this region and although loose smut is not the most prevalent disease of barley in the region, it has the potential to develop into a more serious problem in coming years.
In places like the United States where there are ample resources and technologies such as fungicide seed treatment, loose smut is not an especially important disease.
Read more about this topic: Ustilago Nuda F.sp. Hordei
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