Story Posted: October 04, 2011

Clubroot Disease Confirmed in Saskatchewan

Clubroot has been confirmed in two Saskatchewan canola fields, Brett Halstead, Chair of SaskCanola announced today. SaskCanola was advised by industry and government personnel on September 30, 2011 that plants from two fields in the north central part of the province showed the clubroot disease.

"As the grower organization we want to ensure that all canola growers are made aware of the situation immediately. Collectively farmers will need to be more vigilant as to their farming practices this fall and coming spring in order to prevent further spreading of this disease", Halstead stated.

"The confirmation of clubroot in Saskatchewan although extremely unfortunate is predictable given the nature of the disease and its eastward movement", Halstead said.

SaskCanola has understood this possibility for some time and invested close to 1M dollars in levy funding on research programs that have focused on clubroot prevention and management including the purchase of new detection equipment for the provincial lab.

In 2009 the Ministry of Agriculture along with SaskCanola, industry and agriculture organizations, established the Saskatchewan Clubroot Initiative (SCI).Through this initiative, a provincial Clubroot Management Plan was developed by SCI to promote awareness and identify priorities for clubroot prevention and management.

Clubroot management and prevention includes proper crop rotation, scouting susceptible crops regularly, and good sanitation practices for farm equipment.

For information about clubroot its prevention and management, canola producers can go to websites: saskcanola.com, clubroot.ca or agriculture.gov.sk.ca/crops

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