Australia
March 30, 2011

A step-by-step decision making tool is available to help growers minimise the risk of blackleg disease causing significant yield losses to their canola and juncea-canola crops.

With support from the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC), Dr Steve Marcroft, of Marcroft Grains Pathology at Horsham, Victoria, has developed a ‘Risk Assessor’ - outlined in the GRDC Blackleg Risk Assessor fact sheet - to help farmers make the right choices prior to, or at, sowing.

Western Australia is Australia’s biggest canola producer, with 875,000ha planted to the crop in 2010.

Blackleg is the State’s most damaging canola disease, causing yield losses of up to 50 per cent in some circumstances.

Department of Agriculture and Food (DAFWA) plant pathologist Ravjit Khangura said GRDC-supported blackleg research conducted by the department would help to further validate the Risk Assessor tool in WA.

She said growers could use the Risk Assessor to determine if their paddocks were in a high risk situation, and what practices could be changed to reduce yield loss caused by blackleg.
Dr Khangura said the Risk Assessor comprised three steps, with the first and second steps providing information to help growers determine if their farm was in a region at high risk of blackleg.

“Growers who had blackleg in their canola crop in 2010 will be at high risk of blackleg disease,” Dr Khangura said.

“They can use the third step to determine which management practices can be changed to reduce the risks in the next crop.

“A table is provided which can help farmers estimate how different practices are likely to influence the risk of blackleg causing yield losses.

“For example, if the same cultivar has been grown for three years, switching to a different cultivar can reduce the risk of blackleg.”

The Blackleg Risk Assessor fact sheet is available at www.grdc.com.au/GRDC-FS-BlacklegRiskAssessor

It is also available for free (plus postage and handling) from GRDC Ground Cover Direct, freecall 1800 11 00 44 or email ground-cover-direct@canprint.com.au
 

Website: http://www.grdc.com.au

Published: March 30, 2011