Is canola on the path to withstand verticillium?

UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA — Two years ago, Brad Crammond had to “scrape some (of) his canola off the ground at harvest,” because verticillium stripe had caused such heavy lodging.

“It was not fun,” said the farmer from Austin, Man. “The last half, I thought we’d never finish because it was so terrible.”

Last year, Crammon also saw the disease, but not to the same degree.

“It’s hard to describe why,” he said. “It’s not present in every field, or every year, or in every cultivar.”

Seed genetics will certain play some role, looking at the natural variation between varieties. Seed companies are exploiting this variation, bringing cultivars to market with known enhanced tolerance.