Protecting the malting and brewing quality of UK barley cultivars through effective FHB disease control strategies

Fusarium head blight (FHB) disease caused by Fusarium and Microdochium spp. can result in significant reductions of yield and quality of cereals. The incidence of FHB disease is on an upwards trend and the strains implicated in the infection are diversifying. Such trends are predicted to continue as the effects of global warming become apparent. Mycotoxin levels in UK malting barley have been reported to be below the EU legislative safety limits, but the effect of sub-acute Fusarium infection on the viability and functional quality of UK malting barley has remained relatively unclear. Currently there is insufficient information and knowledge of the links between key agronomic variables (e.g. selection of barley variety/ agronomic and weather conditions) and the resultant severity of FHB in malting barley. Furthermore, the impact of infection with Fusarium species on the malting and brewing quality of the barley crop remains to be elucidated.

The SAFEMalt project (Strategies Against Fusarium Effective in MALTing barley) is a 3-year multi-partner research initiative spanning the malting barley supply chain from barley breeder through barley grower and merchant to brewer. SAFEMalt will aim to determine the links throughout the supply chain from evaluating the impact of a series of agronomic variables on the incidence of FHB, through identification of the causal pathogens of FHB implicated to the subsequent impact on the functional properties of barley for malting and brewing. The role and contribution of varietal resistance in UK barley and timing of fungicide application against FHB will be determined. This project is a collaboration between partners with expertise in key sectors such as crop breeding, crop protection, agrochemical industry, farm management, malting and brewing in order to ensure that future agricultural production meets the needs of UK industry. The final output will provide new knowledge and practice incroporated into a growers toolkit with which to protect yield, quality and safety of malting barley in the production chain.