The Root of All Evil: Keeping Canola Safe from Clubroot – DiscoverMooseJaw.com

With harvest almost complete in Saskatchewan, farmers are starting to consider fall weed spraying or pre-fertilization for next year’s harvest. Disease pressure, including clubroot in canola fields, should also be a priority.

Clubroot is a soil-borne disease that attacks the roots of the canola plant, causing swelling and gall formation on the roots and killing the plant. It also has no economic control measures that can neutralize the disease, meaning that once it enters your field, it stays there forever.

Fortunately, clubroot is more prevalent in warm, moist, acidic soils, which are more common in the northern parts of Saskatchewan. Although clubroot has been detected as close as Melville, it is still a major threat to farmers.

According to the Canola Council of Canada encyclopedia, “The best way to prevent canola clubroot is to prevent the introduction of contaminated soil if possible. The pathogen has several stages in its life cycle, including resistant resting spores, which are released into the soil from infected plant roots and, due to their tiny size, can move easily with soil particles. Therefore, minimizing the risk of soil movement is essential to prevent the introduction of crooked roots into a new area (e.g. a new field or farm). Any individual who comes into contact with agricultural soil should consider the risks of clubroot. As an added benefit, sanitizing equipment will also help reduce the spread of other diseases, weeds and insects.”

Professional agrologist and former agricultural extension specialist Sherri Roberts agrees that although clubroot is not yet seen as a major problem in the Southeast, farmers need to be diligent and continue to test for these diseases.

“Please make an appeal to growers in this area to have their canola fields tested for clubroot and blackleg. SaskCanola launches this program again this year, they will pay the cost of testing. You have to send in the samples and contact them if you go to their website, there is information there about the clubroot test, but since they have deregulated clubroot now, you really need to know what the status of your canola fields are for the In case someone goes into these fields and you end up with clubroot, then you know where it came from.

For more information about clubroot, visit the Canola Council of Canada website and for all things canola here in Saskatchewan, visit www.saskcanola.com