Science

Advances in verticillium stripe identification and assessment

Science Edition 2024—

Verticillium stripe can affect seedling establishment and crop growth before affecting tissues in the stem to reduce yield. Seedling and adult stage disease look different and new disease assessment scales were developed for both. This will be necessary for evaluating host resistance. Extra measures to control blackleg may be needed where verticillium stripe is present.

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Science

Crop rotation reduces clubroot risk

Science Edition 2024—

The treatments (liming, grassing, gypsum) did not consistently have a measurable effect on spore concentrations relative to the bare soil control. The best clubroot management practices remain rotation breaks between host canola crops and the use of resistant cultivars.

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Science

Over-fertilization may increase clubroot

Science Edition 2024—

While recommended fertilizer rates are required to improve overall plant growth and yield, over-fertilization may contribute to increased P. brassicae inoculum loads and greater clubroot pressure over the long term.

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Science

Chaff lining not an effective herbicide alternative

A line of chaff in a golden field.

Science Edition 2024—

Chaff lining concentrates chaff (including harvested weed seeds) into a narrow line behind the combine, with the goal to smother weed seeds in chaff. In this study, chaff lining did reduce weed emergence, but did not actually reduce the weed seed bank. Weed seed viability was not reduced after overwintering under the chaff line, and in most cases increased compared to overwintering on bare ground. Where canola seeding rows intersected chaff lines, canola emergence dropped by about 50 plants per square metre, on average.

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