Karnal bunt found in Texas' regulated area

By LORI COPE | East Texas Edition

June 13, 2002 -- Four samples of Karnal bunt have been found within the "regulated" four-county area in Texas' Rolling Plains region.

"As of Monday (June 10), we have ran 564 grain samples. Of those, four were positive for Karnal bunt," reported Megan Thomas, spokesperson with Riverdale Public Affairs office, the headquarters for USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) in Washington, D.C.

The counties of Baylor, Throckmorton, Young, and Archer are "regulated" by USDA's APHIS because the fungus was found in the counties' wheat last year.

Karnal bunt is a fungal disease that is spread by spores that can attach to the wheat seeds, the grain itself, harvesting equipment, etc. Karnal bunt poses no risk to human health but reduces flour quality because of odor and palpability issues caused by the fungus.

Two samples of Karnal bunt were found in Baylor County fields, one sample in Throckmorton County, and one in Young County, Thomas said on June 10.

Dr. Travis Miller, Extension agronomist for the state, said as the wheat harvest in the four-county regulated area is under way, APHIS officials are present at each field as the combines begin their harvesting work.

"A sample is immediately taken to a lab," Miller explained. "Everything stops until the results come back. If there is nothing (no Karnal bunt) then they cut. If a sample shows Karnal bunt, it is harvested but taken to an elevator set up to handle Karnal bunt."

Producers in regulated areas may grow Karnal bunt host crops, but the wheat, durum wheat, or triticale must be tested for Karnal bunt before the harvested crop is moved from the field in which it was grown, according to APHIS reports. This required testing is provided to producers free of charge.

"Several labs have been set up in the area. They (APHIS testing officials) are trying not to delay harvest," Miller added.

In the fall of 2001, regulations for handling Karnal bunt were approved following many meetings on the subject. Compensation has been made available to producers in regulated areas to address the loss in value of positive-testing grain.

Karnal bunt is so named because it was discovered in 1931 on wheat grown near Karnal, India. Since then, it has been found in all major wheat-growing states of India, as well as in Pakistan, Iraq, Mexico, and Afghanistan, according to APHIS information. The disease may have been present in Mexico since 1970 and has been well established in some areas in northwestern Mexico since 1982.