Cereal curculio (Desiantha caudata) damage to wheat following different pre-sowing tillage programmes

Abstract

In an experiment in South Australia wheat was grown following either long (ten months) o short (three months) fallows or established following treatment with herbicide two to three weeks before sowing (reduced tillage). Seedling numbers were reduced from a mean of 142 plants m-2 in the fallow treatments to 101 plants m-2 in the reduced tillage. Grain yields were also reduced from 3.55 t ha-1 in the fallow treatments to 2.30 t ha-1 under reduced tillage. The reductions were ascribed to attack by cereal curculio larvae (Desiantha caudata Pasc.) which were prevalent in the reduced tillage plots but absent where the land had been fallowed.