Clubroot is a serious disease of cruciferous plants such as canola that can cause devastating yield losses. It is a soil borne disease that is easily transferred via contaminated soil residing on equipment, seed, etc. The RM of McKillop has passed a Clubroot Bylaw and Policy to help our farmers deal with Clubroot.
SARM has a voluntary soil testing program. Please click on the link to see where Clubroot has been detected in the province.
Clubroot Survey Results 2008-2021
there are limited options for controlling this invasive disease but there are some actions that can be taken to help prevent and manage clubroot:
Prevention:
1. Practice good sanitation to restrict soil movement;
2. Knock soil off equipment between fields;
3. Minimize traffic to and from fields;
4. Practice zero or minimum tillage, which will reduce the movement of clubroot-infected soil through water and wind erosion;
5. Create a separate exit as far as possible from the field entrance. Clubroot is often first found at the field entrance, and this area of the field will often have the highest concentration of the pathogen. Exiting the field as far as possible from the field entrance will reduce the amount of pathogen in the soil on equipment leaving the field;
6. Notify occupants and landowners who have access to the land if clubroot has been confirmed. and
7. Talk openly about biosecurity with all groups working on your land.
Management:
1. Crop Rotations: Plant susceptible crops, including clubroot resistant canola varieties, no more than once every four years.
2. Scout crops regularly and carefully.
- Identify suspicious above-ground symptoms including wilting, stunting, yellowing and premature ripening of canola or other susceptible crops.
- Field entrances and approaches are likely to be contaminated with clubroot spores first. Therefore, symptoms will often appear there first.
- Confirm cause of above-ground symptoms by checking the roots for galls.
For More Information On Minimizing Your Risk Of Clubroot:
SK Gov't - Minimizing Clubroot Impact
3. If clubroot is suspected, inform the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture by contacting the Agriculture Knowledge Centre (1-866-457-2377) or your local Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture regional office.
4. If clubroot is confirmed to be present then please contact the Agriculture Knowledge Centre and the RM Office so they can assist you in developing/implementing an effective clubroot management plan.
5. Practice good sanitation by restricting movement of potentially contaminated soil to non-contaminated regions.
- For Saskatchewan producers, this means restricting entry into their fields of vehicles, field machinery or oil rig equipment with earth tag from infested regions unless it has been properly sanitized.
- Ask questions about where the equipment is from and what sanitation measures have been used before the equipment left the infested area, dealer or auction site.
6. Clubroot spores may survive livestock digestion. Avoid use of straw, hay, greenfeed, silage and manure from infested or suspect areas.
For more information follow the links below:
Plant Health Officer Newsletter - Summer 2021
Saskatchewan Government Clubroot Information
Or contact:
Joanne Kwasnicki PAg
Plant Health Officer - SARM Division 2
306-541-8437
