Root rot appearing in Saskatchewan, traces back to 2016 growing season
SASKATCHEWAN – Two wet growing seasons, four years apart, have contributed to root rot appearing in some pea and lentil crops.
Sherrilyn Phelps is the agronomy manager with the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers said there are some similarities to certain fields.
“The one factor that we are noticing with a lot of these fields that are really bad this year is a lot of them did have either peas or lentils in 2016,” she said. “So four years, which is a good rotation, under normal circumstances, but the problem was in 2016, it was another wet year. So, a lot of these fields did have signs of root rot initially, but just in small patches. Then going back in and seeding a susceptible crop, and getting another wet year, it just seems to be like dynamite.”
Aphanomyces combined with fusarium sharply reduces yield. Phelps said the plants won’t be taking in water or nutrients and could die prematurely.