In the last crop seasons, epidemics of head blight (Gibberella zeae) were observed in many crop regions throughout the world. Head blight is considered a floral disease because it affects plants from the anthesis to the soft dough stage. The damage caused by the disease is both quantitative and qualitatively. The objective of this research was to quantify the damage caused by head blight to winter cereal crops. The experiment was carried out in Passo Fundo, in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, with one cultivar of rye (Secale cereale), one of triticale (Triticum x secale), three of barley (Hordeum vulgare), and six of wheat (Triticum aestivum). Spikes were sampled from 75m²-experimental plots managed without fungicides. The methodology of damage quantification simulated real losses from commercial fields harvested with combines. Overall, the head blight damage reached 43,9% (1537 kg.ha-1) on rye, 0,1% (5 kg.ha-1) on triticale, 8,3% (252 kg.ha-1) on barley, and 17,5% (640 kg.ha-1) on wheat. More studies on the disease epidemiology and disease damage are needed to evaluate the viability of chemical control for head blight on barley.
