New resource to support root rot mitigation in pulses

Manitoba Pulse and Soybean Growers launched a new website

A new website is available to pulse growers looking to get ahead of root rot diseases in their pea and lentil fields.

Manitoba Pulse and Soybean Growers (MPSG), as part of the Pulse Root Rot Network, launched rootrot.ca.

“As root rots are a top priority, this website was developed to allow consistent messaging and increase the collaborative approach to addressing this issue by connecting researchers,” MPSG said in a Sept. 11 press release. “This website includes resources, tools, and research to create a central location for growers, agronomists, researchers and the pulse industry.”

The website has information on three types of root rot complex – Aphanomyces, Fusarium, Rhizoctonia and Pythium.

And it has information on agronomy, breeding and pathology.

“Eliminating this risk is essential for profitable and sustainable pea and lentil production in Western Canada,” the MPSG release says.

Identifying symptoms early is important.

If allowed to spread, it can reduce yield.

“Early infection can result in seed death, seedling blight, reduced stand density, root rot and yield loss,” an MPSG document says. “Yield loss is also difficult to assess because severe symptoms often are not evenly distributed within a field.”

Scientists surveyed 63 soybean, 40 dry bean and 46 pea fields in Manitoba for root rot diseases in 2020.

“The clear picture that emerged from 2020 was that Fusarium root rot continues to be our most prevalent disease infecting soybean, dry bean and pea roots,” MPSG said in a summary.