Clubroot: a growing problem for Saskatchewan producers

Clubroot is continuing to plague producers across Saskatchewan, specifically in the north-central portions of the province.

The soil-borne disease has been tracked by the Ministry of Agriculture since 2008. On Jan. 10, the ministry released data collected from the first 10 years of its research.

Out of the 12 crop districts that were surveyed, half were found to have clubroot symptoms, or the clubroot pathogen itself.

This included 19 different rural municipalities, mostly situated in the northwest and central areas of the province.

Clubroot is still a “relatively new disease” in Saskatchewan, but the ministry has tracked its spread for over a decade in the province. Allie Noble, crops extension specialist with the ministry, said clubroot infects the root of the canola plant, causing swollen galls on the plants roots.

“(That) means (the plant) isn’t able to uptake water in nutrients the same way it would be able to normally, which will impact the yield of that plant,” she said.

“If you’re not getting the food and water you need as a plant, you’re going to end up dying off.”

Noble said clubroot’s hold on the canola crop in the province created the need to start the disease map two years ago.

“It’s mostly having an idea of where clubroot has been identified in the province and using that map as a general guide to what your clubroot management should be on your farm,” she said.

According to Noble, at this point, it’s a lot of education on the disease for producers along with awareness about its presence in Saskatchewan.

In the ministry’s latest report, it said since 2011, “visible symptoms of clubroot have been confirmed in 43 commercial Saskatchewan canola fields,” but only half of Saskatchewan’s crop districts have been surveyed so far.

Noble said the province offers easy-to-use soil test kits to all producers in Saskatchewan. All it takes to find out if your field has been contaminated is sending a plant root to the ministry for DNA testing.

Still, Noble said she doesn’t believe it’s necessarily a “growing problem,” but one that is getting more attention because it’s relatively new.

“Now, we’re very aware that clubroot is in the province. Guys are learning it’s really important to scout,” she said.

“We’re finding it and now we’re at a point where we can start managing it when it’s at lower levels. We have areas of the province where it hasn’t been touched by clubroot yet … The sooner you find it, the better.”

She said the disease is more prevalent in the northern portions of the province because conditions like more soil moisture and more canola fields make it more likely for the disease to spread.

Noble said the easiest way to detect the disease is pulling the plant and looking at its roots to see if the galls have swollen. She added that scouting fields regularly to monitor is also key.

“That means getting out into your field, looking at the field entrances, water runs, and low spots are areas that we’ve seen it,” she said.

Noble added that there are other management techniques that help in stopping the spread of the disease. Those techniques include having at least a two-year break between canola crops.

“That means that we’re starting to see the spore level in the soil decrease, which means that if you were to grow canola again, you’re not going to (continually) increase that spore level,” she said.

Additionally, using the clubroot resistant varieties will ensure that a large amount of spore levels don’t end up building in the soil.

“We want to keep the spore level as low as possible, and we want to try avoid bringing spores to new areas,” Noble said.