Benefits of using mycotoxin forecasting
Forecasting of mycotoxin presence during the harvest season can assist grain supply chain providers in taking timely actions to manage mycotoxin contamination. A forecasting model can guide risk- based testing and analyses for mycotoxins, thus save money.
PHOTO: HENK RISWICK BY PROF. HJ VAN DER FELS-KLERX T
he occurrence of mycotoxins in agricultural crops is widely spread across the globe. Mycotoxins are sec- ondary metabolites of fungi, that are toxic to animal and human health. The most important producers
of mycotoxins are certain species of Aspergillus, Fusarium and Penicillium. In the past, FAO had estimated that about 25% of the worldwide produced crops are contaminated with myco- toxins above regulatory limits. Recently, this estimate has been validated by Eskola et al. (2020) using EFSA and Biomin data related to mycotoxin occurrence in feed and food. The presence of mycotoxins in feed materials, mainly grains, re- sults into animal exposure to these toxic compounds, leading to reduced animal performance, such as lower growth, repro- ductivity and animal welfare. Mycotoxin contaminated feeds thus result into indirect economic losses related to animal pro- duction; this already occurs at low mycotoxin contamination levels. In addition, mycotoxin contamination of feed materials
leads to direct economic losses of traders and feed industry due to recalls, testing, temporary holding of batches, down- grading etc. For arable farmers, mycotoxin infection of the grain results into reduced yield and quality of the harvested crop, and thus a lower price for harvested grain batches.
Factors affecting mycotoxin occurrence Fungal infection of the grain and toxin production occurs during a critical period of grain phenology, namely grain flowering, and – though to lesser extent – also around crop harvest, in case of favourable environmental conditions. Hu- mid and warm conditions around grain flowering are condu- cive for fungal infection and toxin production. In addition to weather, fungal presence and mycotoxin contamination are also influenced by agronomical factors such as the pre-crop cultivated in the field, tillage method applied, and soil type. Effects of agronomics on mycotoxin contamination at grain harvest, relative to effects of weather conditions, are however rather small.
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