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Mycotoxins in small grains are a significant and long-standing problem. These contaminants may be produced by members of several fungal genera, including Alternaria, Aspergillus, Fusarium, Claviceps, and Penicillium. Interventions that limit contamination can be made both pre-harvest and post-harvest. Many problems and strategies to control them and the toxins they produce are similar regardless of the location at which they are employed, while others are more common in some areas than in others. Increased knowledge of host-plant resistance, better agronomic methods, improved fungicide management, and better storage strategies all have application on a global basis. We summarize the major pre- and post-harvest control strategies currently in use. In the area of pre-harvest, these include resistant host lines, fungicides and their application guided by epidemiological models, and multiple cultural practices. In the area of post-harvest, drying, storage, cleaning and sorting, and some end-product processes were the most important at the global level. We also employed the Nominal Group discussion technique to identify and prioritize potential steps forward and to reduce problems associated with human and animal consumption of these grains. Identifying existing and potentially novel mechanisms to effectively manage mycotoxin problems in these grains is essential to ensure the safety of humans and domesticated animals that consume these grains.

The natural occurrence of fungi, mycotoxins and fungal metabolites was investigated in 100 samples of maize grains collected from south and southwestern Ethiopia in 2015. The maize samples were contaminated by Fusarium, Aspergillus and Penicillium species. Using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry 127 secondary metabolites were analysed. Zearalenone was the most prevalent mycotoxin, occurring in about 96% of the samples. Zearalenone sulfate was the second most prevalent, present in 81% of the samples. Fumonisin B1 was detected in 70% of the samples with a mean level of 606 μg kg in positive samples, while FB2, FB3 and FB4 were detected in 62%, 51% and 60% of the maize samples with mean levels of 202, 136 and 85 μg kg, respectively. Up to 8% of the samples were contaminated with aflatoxins, with a maximum level of aflatoxin B1 of 513 μg kg. Results were higher than earlier reports for maize from Ethiopia.

Isolates of Colletotrichum sublineolum were collected from different sorghum-producing regions of Ethiopia and divided into five groups based on their geographic origin. The growth rate of 50 isolates showed considerable variation: 1AE7-5AE8 mm day )1 , mean 3AE3 mm day )1 . However, the isolates displayed little variation in colony colour and colony margin, except for isolates from the north, which were different from the others. Amplified fragment length polymorphism analysis of 102 isolates revealed much greater variations among the different groups. Dice similarity coefficients ranged from 0AE32 to 0AE96 (mean 0AE78). Cluster analysis and principal coordinate analysis revealed a differentiation of the isolates according to their geographic origin, and both methods clearly indicated a genetic separation between the southern, the eastern and the other isolates. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) indicated a high level of genetic variation both among (42%) and within (58%) the C. sublineolum sampling sites in Ethiopia. The AMOVA also indicated a high level of genetic differentiation (F ST = 0AE42) and limited gene flow (Nm = 0AE343). The results of this study confirmed the presence of a highly diverse pathogen, which is in agreement with the existence of diverse host genotypes and widely ranging environmental conditions in sorghum-producing regions of the country. Such diversity should be taken into account in future breeding programmes to achieve an effective and sustainable disease management strategy.