Pulse School: Diseases, Root Rots and Wet Conditions

Ample moisture availability, combined with the price incentive to move to tighter pulse crop rotations, has resulted in high disease pressure for many of this year’s pea and lentil acres.

The crop is also well-advanced in many areas, with most acres seeded before the second week of May, notes Allison Friesen of BASF in this Pulse School episode.

Runoff from a field of peas in southern Manitoba.

Runoff from a field of peas in southern Manitoba.

“That means we’re also going to get canopy closure a lot earlier as well, which can be a concern because it forms a microenvironment for those diseases,” she says.

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Mycosphaerella — one of the main disease concerns in peas — is present throughout Saskatchewan and even in Manitoba, where many growers have planted more peas this year, notes Friesen. Meanwhile, root rot has already taken a toll on peas in some regions, especially in southeast Saskatchewan.

In this episode of the Pulse School, Allison Friesen joins Kelvin Heppner for an overview of which diseases to look for in peas and lentils, fungicide timing and the impact of root rot:

Stay tuned for our next Pulse School episode — Tom Wolf will share tips for fungicide application in pulses.

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