Today, the Government of Saskatchewan released the 2024 Clubroot Distribution Map, identifying the rural municipalities (RMs) where clubroot has been identified since the first Saskatchewan detection in 2008.
The map reflects findings from last year’s permission-based survey. No new cases of canola plants with visible symptoms of clubroot were identified in the province in 2024, keeping the total number of fields with confirmed visible symptoms at 82.
However, two additional fields were found to have clubroot pathogen DNA in the soil, increasing the total number of confirmed fields through DNA testing to 45. Producers impacted by the detections have been notified.
The 2024 Clubroot Monitoring Program was completed through a partnership between the Ministry of Agriculture and SaskOilseeds. More than 480 fields across Saskatchewan were tested as part of the initiative. SaskOilseeds funded both a voluntary on-farm soil testing program as well as the soil testing costs associated with the clubroot risk-based survey.
As the clubroot pathogen remains a major challenge for canola production, industry leaders highlight the need for advanced research and proactive farming strategies going forward:
“As a Commission, we continue to invest levy dollars into research to develop canola cultivars resistant to the clubroot pathogen,” says Codie Nagy, SaskOilseeds Research Chair. “At the farm-level, it is critical that farmers scout and test, employ a suitable crop rotation, and make a plan to manage the disease if it is found.”
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