Taking action on verticillium stripe

Researchers detected verticillium stripe, caused by the pathogen Verticillium longisporum, in canola in Manitoba in 2014. Since then, the disease has been found across the Prairies, causing yield loss and lodging in some fields.

Disease surveys from the three Prairie provinces indicate how widespread the disease is and its severity.

Manitoba 2023

Surveyors participating in the Manitoba Agriculture and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada survey assessed 129 canola crops between August 2-30, 2023, in the major canola production regions of Manitoba. Most of the fields were ripening, not yet swathed or combined, when surveyed.

Disease prevalence is the percentage of fields surveyed that have infection in them. The average prevalence was 29 per cent for verticillium stripe. Incidence is the percentage of plants surveyed within a field that have disease symptoms. Average incidence in infected crops was 11 per cent. Learn more, including detailed results from the last five years, in the Manitoba Canola Disease Survey for 2023 report.

Saskatchewan 2023

In 2023, the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture surveyed 218 fields through the general canola disease survey and an additional 103 fields after harvest. Results confirmed verticillium stripe in 25 fields in 23 rural municipalities (RMs). SaskCanola also expanded its disease testing program last year to include verticillium stripe, which found the disease in an additional 16 RMs, bringing the total to 39. (See the map for RMs with known verticillium stripe.) Find more details in the Sask Ag article Verticillium longisporum in Saskatchewan Canola.