Damage Characteristics and Control Measures of Maize Head Smut.

Maize head smut is a worldwide disease, widely occurred in most maize fields. The disease had occurred in large area in the late 1970s, and became a limiting factor restricting the improvement of maize yield and total yield in China. After efforts of several generations of agricultural scientific workers, the symptoms, pathogen, infection pathway, infection conditions, infection regularity and resistance genetic law of maize head smut have been studied. This paper introduces the incidence symptoms, pathogen sources, infection pathway, infection conditions, and physiological races of maize head smut, and put forwards the corresponding prevention measures, such as crop rotation, selection of resistant varieties, seed dressing, soil treatment with fungicides, promoting seedling emergence and strengthening field management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]