Very few people remember the damage that serious seed-borne disease infection can cause to cereal crops. Two things have been largely responsible for this – the advent of seed dressings and the success of the seed certification process. Together these two measures have helped keep our seed stock largely free of what were once potentially devastating diseases.

Seedling diseases are somewhat more complex than foliar diseases in that initial infection can come from the seed or the soil, depending on the disease.

While the certification process has been a huge help in keeping seed free of these diseases, this requirement falls back on the grower when using home-saved seed.

So a basic knowledge of disease risks is essential.

Replanting seed from infected crops could quickly give rise to a very serious problem. A relatively low infection level in a crop could contaminate next year’s seed.

Smuts are stealth diseases – you do not see them until after heading out and then there is nothing you can do.

Leaf stripe is much more obvious on the plant but it must be treated on the seed. Others such as fusarium, Microdochium nivale and septoria can be a more frequent problem and can hit establishment if seed is not dressed.

Seed dressings offer solutions but you must know the likely problems. This is particularly important around home-saved seed and seed saved from undressed seed.

Seed testing is essential but a sample must be representative of the seed lot. Take many separate samples, mix them together and take your test sample from that. A 0.5kg sample is needed to get a number of tests done.

The Department of Agriculture’s seed testing lab at Backweston will do a range of seed tests for growers, with the costs below exclusive of VAT.

  • Germination test – €12.
  • General pathology test – €26 (covers most troublesome diseases).
  • Loose smut – €32.

    • No seed should be sown without a basic knowledge of its germination and disease status.