(file photo/farmnewsNOW staff)

By Alice McFarlane

Root Rot Task Force

New website shares information on pulse disease

Sep 12, 2024 | 5:18 AM

The Root Rot Task Force (RRTF) launched a new website to create a collaborative approach to root rot research and management focused on agronomy, breeding, and pathology in peas and lentils.

The website rootrot.ca was created by the Western Canadian pulse crop commissions, including Saskatchewan Pulse Growers (SPG), Alberta Pulse Growers (APG), and Manitoba Pulse & Soybean Growers (MPSG). It developed a National Pulse Research Strategy that brings together research priorities and targets coordinates pulse research across Canada. The strategy identified controlling root rots in peas and lentils, particularly Aphanomyces and Fusarium, as the top priorities.

The website was developed to allow consistent messaging by connecting researchers.

This website includes resources, tools, and research to create a central location for growers, agronomists, researchers, and the pulse industry and highlights agronomy providing growers with recommendations and tools for practical on-farm root rot risk assessment and management. There is a focus on breeding that works towards the availability of genetic resistance to root rot pathogens into the future and pathology which will deepen the understanding of biology, pathogenicity, and interactions of root rot pathogens in pulses.

SPG Board Chair Winston van Staveren said root rots significantly impact yields and limit production areas for peas and lentils. Aphanomyces euteiches, Fusarium spp., and other fungal pathogens dominate the root rot complex.

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He said eliminating this risk is essential for profitable and sustainable pea and lentil production in Western Canada.

“Root disease in peas and lentils is the largest threat to pulse growers in Western Canada. Collaborating with our partners at APG and MPSG will help increase efficiency across all aspects, from sharing information to investing in new research,” van Staveren said.

In addition to the work led by the RRTF, SPG has invested $5.3 million in root rot-related research, which was leveraged to $24 million this year through the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture’s Strategic Research Initiative, Saskatchewan’s Agriculture Development Fund, and the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership AgriScience Program Clusters Component.

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alice.mcfarlane@pattisonmedia.com

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