Loose Smut of Wheat

Abstract

Loose Smut of wheat (Ustilago tritici (Pers.) Rostr.) is of comparatively rare occurrence in Kenya, but there is some indication that it may be on the increase. The disease is easy to recognize in the crop as the smutted ears are already black when they emerge from the sheath. The spore masses are protected only by a thin membrane which quickly ruptures on emergence of the head, allowing the spores to be blown away. The bare blackened central stalks of the ears are characteristic of the disease.