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<p>Field experiments will be performed at two sites which represent major oat growing regions of the UK (East of Scotland and West of England) each year for two years. Trials of winter (cultivar Gerald) and spring (cultivar Firth) oats will be designed as factorial experiments to test the importance of previous crop (wheat and oil seed rape) and cultivation (ploughing and minimum tillage) with selected samples being tested for the presence of T2 and HT2 using ELISA. The impact of agronomic practices on the mycotoxin content of harvested oats will then be quantified and suitable modifications proposed. A risk analysis of the proposed modifications to oat agronomy, including any economic implications will then be performed.</p>
<p>The European Commission is currently considering legislative limits for HT2 and T2 in cereals and cereal products. Results from a previous FSA funded project "Investigation of fusarium mycotoxins in UK barley and oat production" (CO4034) identified high concentrations of HT2 and T2 in unprocessed oats. Analysis of agronomic factors identified previous crop and cultivation as important parameters, but due to the unbalanced nature of the dataset the role of these factors could not be accurately measured.</p>