Fusarium head blight or wheat scab, caused by Gibberella zeae, is a disease of the floral infection, with frequent occurrence in regions where long periods of rain (> 48 h) and average temperatures (> 20 ºC) occur after the wheat (Triticum aestivum) begins to flower. The reduction of grain yield, caused by nature infection of wheat scab in the field, has been quantified in different wheat cultivars during the harvests of 2001 and 2002, in the city of Passo Fundo, RS. All the wheat scab spikes, from the grain milk stage through maturation, had been identified and marked in an area of the 1 m², being sampled three repetitions for wheat area. The scab and healthy spikes were harvested, dried, counted and threshed separately. The damages caused by wheat scab were calculated by the difference between the actual yield and the estimated yield potential based on the total numbers of spikes, the number of healthy spikes and the number of scab spikes. The average damage caused by wheat scab in 25 samples of wheat collected in 2001, was 13,4%, varying from 6,4 to 23,1%. In the 2002 harvest, the average damage in 18 samples, was 11,6%, varying from 3,1 to 20,5%. The average reduction in the grain yield for harvests of 2001 and 2002 were 394,4 Kg.ha-1 and 356,8 Kg.ha-1, respectively. In the two harvests, the average damage caused by wheat scab, in the different cultivars, was 375,3 kg.ha-1 or 6,26 bags of wheat/ha.
