By Alice McFarlane

Clubroot cases increase in Saskatchewan

Jan 11, 2021 | 4:08 PM

New cases of clubroot have been found in Saskatchewan.

The Ministry of Agriculture released the new Clubroot Distribution Map which outlines the rural municipalities (RM) where clubroot has been identified.

SaskCanola chair Wayne Truman said visible clubroot symptoms have been confirmed in 75 commercial canola fields in 25 rural municipalities since 2017.

“Previously we only had five soil only positives in five R.M.’s and now we have 23 soil only in 19 R.M.’s,” Truman said. “That means the spore load is increasing. It hasn’t got to the place where it’s affecting the plants but that is the next step.”

Truman said surveying the province for the disease is important to ensure decisions about management are based on evidence and data.

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“We continue to encourage farmers to test their soil for clubroot so that it can be caught early and reduce the potential impact on yield,” Truman said.

The goal of the tests is to detect the pathogen when spore levels are low to minimize potential impact on canola yields.

Provincial plant disease specialist Alireza Akhavan recommends producers use longer crop rotations and plant clubroot resistant varieties.

“I can say aiming for a four-year rotation if their field is known to have the clubroot pathogen detected with no symptoms or if the neighbouring R.M. has clubroot,” Akhaven said. “But a minimum of a three-year rotation which a two-year break between host crops including clubroot resistance varieties should be followed.”

Last year, the ministry and SaskCanola offered producers the opportunity to take home soil testing bags to fill and mail in for testing. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, soil testing bags could not be picked up at events like Ag in Motion but producers and agrologists were still able to receive a free soil test bag.

In all, 231 soil samples were submitted and sent to Discovery Seed Labs, where they were tested for the clubroot pathogen. Eleven returned positive results.

The landowners of all fields with visible clubroot symptoms or fields with the presence of the pathogen have been contacted.

The specific land locations are not shared publicly to protect the privacy of producers.

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alice.mcfarlane@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @AliceMcF