Wheat

Assessment of the biostimulant and biocontrol effect (against fungal diseases, insect pests and their natural enemies) of microbial consortia (co-culture of Bacillus, Trichoderma and nitrate) as well as antifungal biomolecule (lipopeptide produced by Bacillus sp.) in comparison with other chemical or biobased foliar treatments in winter wheat.

Standard practice:
Conventional Current Practice

ADOPT-IPM solution:
Lipoproteins with biopesticides or chemicals

Experimental design

Completely randomized blocks

Replications

4 (2023-2024) and 5 (2024-2025)

Plot size

8 x 2 m

Trial Duration 

Different treatments were tested under field conditions during 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 growing seasons.

Randomization Procedure

Completely randomized blocks

Data collection

Routinely used procedure for foliar disease scoring or insect counting. Four types of observations were conducted during the field trials: phenological development, progression of fungal diseases, monitoring of pest populations, and grain yield at harvest.

Phenological monitoring, essential for determining the optimal timing of fungicide applications, was carried out according to the technical recommendations of the Arvalis Fongiscope guidelines. The BBCH scale (Biologische Bundesanstalt, Bundessortenamt und Chemische Industrie), a standardized and universally accepted system for describing crop developmental stages (Lancashire et al., 1991), was used. Each principal growth stage (0–9) is subdivided into ten secondary stages, resulting in a two-digit code. In this study, observations were conducted from BBCH stage 31 (second node detectable) to BBCH stage 75 (medium milk stage). Sampling was performed in the lateral strips of the plots in order to avoid interference with yield measurements. Five main stems per plot were collected, corresponding to 20 stems per treatment in 2024 and 25 in 2025.

After determination of the phenological stage, each stem was dissected to assess the level of fungal infection according to standard EPPO assessment scales. Three diseases were monitored: Septoria tritici blotch, yellow rust, and brown rust. Disease severity was visually scored on leaves F1 to F5 using the scale described by Koyshibayev and Muminjanov (2016). The results highlight differences in varietal resistance (Livre Blanc Céréales, 2021). The cultivar ‘Mentor’ exhibits moderate susceptibility to brown rust (6.4) and Septoria tritici blotch (6.0), but good tolerance to yellow rust (8.5). In contrast, the cultivar ‘Winner’ shows greater resistance to brown rust (7.5) and yellow rust (8.8), but increased susceptibility to Septoria tritici blotch (5.6).

Entomological monitoring consisted of counting pest and beneficial arthropod populations on 20 randomly selected stems per plot. The survey included aphids, mummified aphids, lady beetles, and parasitoids. Assessments were conducted prior to treatment application, immediately after application, and subsequently at regular intervals until BBCH stage 71 (early grain development). Finally, yields were measured at harvest and expressed in quintals per hectare (q ha⁻¹). Observations were interpreted in relation to climatic conditions, particularly cumulative precipitation (mm) and mean temperature, recorded throughout the trial period using the PAMESeb network of the CRA-W, Gembloux reference station.