Workshop on Fusarium Head Blight and Related Mycotoxins

Abstract

The four papers included here represent the substance of the information presented during a 2-day workshop on fusarium head blight (FHB) of wheat and related mycotoxin problems, March 30-31, 19a9, in Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, Mexico. The meeting, attended by 35 participants from nine countries, was part of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada-funded collaborative project between Agriculture Canada and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). The intention of both the donor agency and the teams of collaborating scientists was to facilitate 1) a direct appraisal of the importance of FHB by wheat scientists from developing countries, 2) an enhanced awareness of these scientists about mycotoxin risks to human and animal health that emanate from the use of fusarium-contaminated grain, and 3) a discussion on the current progress in screening wheat germplasm for FHB resistance. By making these papers available to a wider audience, the authors and CIMMYT are responding to a demand, sensed during the workshop, that an updated analysis be done on pathological and tOXicological perspectives of this topic. We ask for your comments and opinions on the issues raised and on the utility of this publication to serve as a guideline for future dissemination of information evolving from this collaborative project. Another result of this meeting was a tentative agreement between Agriculture Canada and CIMMYT to cooperate in the production and distribution (with IDRC funding) of a Spanish version of the Agriculture Canada publication on Reducing Mycotoxins in Animal Feeds by H.L. Trenholm, D.B. Prelusky, J.C. Young, and J.D. Miller. The Spanish version would be distributed to CIMMYT's Latin American cooperators in maize and wheat.