Cercospora Leaf Spots of Wheat in the Lowland Tropics of Santa Cruz, Bolivia

Abstract

The cultivation of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) in the lowland tropics of Santa Cruz department in Bolivia is recent. Leaf spots diseases are an important yield-reducing factor. Since 1996, Pyricularia blast wheat is the most destructive disease in tropical regions producing wheat. In 2023, sampling was carried out in different locations in the East (Cuatro cañadas) and North (Okinawa1, Okinawa2) production wheat of Santa Cruz. Leaf, sheath and glumes simples were analyzed under microscopy and were estimated incidence. Two Cercospora species, C. oryzae and C. sorghi, were recorded associated with the leaf spots of 'Motacu' variety and these leaf spots seem to be prevalent and widely distributed in the production wheat áreas in the lowland tropics of Santa Cruz, Bolivia.