Field library

Fusarium Ear Rot

This fungus grows on the grains of the cob as a white or pinkish cottony mould. It usually takes hold on grains already wounded by borers, birds or hail, and the affected grains often show white streaks running out from the top like a star. A badly moulded cob is poisonous to animals, so keep it out of the fodder and out of the grain you store.

How to scout

At the milky or soft-dough stage, peel back the husk of ten cobs at five places and look for pink-white cottony mould on scattered grains.