Lime Showing Promise as Way to Control Clubroot in Canola

A new research project at the University of Alberta has shown that spot treating with lime could be a possible way to control clubroot in canola fields, an Aug. 8 news release said. In growth experiments clubroot occurrence and severity was reduced by 35 to 91 per cent.

These findings could give farmers an important option for managing clubroot in their fields, alongside current use of canola plants bred to resist the disease, the release said. Lime has traditionally been used to manage clubroot in related plants such as cabbages for market gardens, but not on a large scale in canola crops.

As a non-genetic management practice, liming treatments could help combat all strains of clubroot in canola, said Nicole Fox, who conducted the study to earn a master of science in plant biosystems. Spot treatments could help control contaminated areas of a field or stem the spread of clubroot into a new field.