CNS Canada — Pea acreage in Western Canada could rise by five to 10 per cent this year, according to one industry expert, who notes root rot threatens to curtail that projection. Demand from India, China and Bangladesh is strong and that means total pea area could hit four million acres, said Carl Potts, executive […] Read more
Pea growers weigh demand opportunities against root rot
New root rots slamming Alberta pea growers
Producers across the Prairies are facing devastating losses in their pea crops — and new species of root rots may be to blame
Reading Time: 5 minutes On bad years — those with cool, wet springs; years like this one — Donald Mueller is lucky if his pea fields yield three bushels an acre. He’ll make back his seed and not much else, losing north of $400 an acre in inputs. Still, the good years have made up for the bad, so […] Read more
Three keys to managing root rots in your peas
Reading Time: 2 minutes Managing root rots comes down to “three key pillars,” says Michael Harding, research scientist with Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development. The first is field selection. “If you have a piece of land that has a heavy textured soil and doesn’t drain very well, that may not be a good spot to put peas.” Next is […] Read more
Root rot risk on the rise
Root rot symptoms are often confused with other crop problems, so early detection and accurate diagnosis is critical
Reading Time: 3 minutes Early-season root rots could be on the rise in areas of the province that had a cool, wet start to seeding. “In the past few years, we’ve seen a lot of root disease issues, and I would say they’re primarily driven by environment,” said Michael Harding, research scientist with Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development. “These […] Read more
Plant diseases to look for in 2014
Provincial officials say the story for 2013 was of extremely localized disease outbreaks and the one for this coming year could be the arrival of new threats
Reading Time: 4 minutes Last year underscored the need for timely scouting for crop diseases. “Disease patterns matched the weather,” provincial pathology researcher Mike Harding said at last month’s 2014 Irrigation Update conference. “Different conditions led to serious disease issues in one area and virtually none just 20 miles away.” For example, cereal leaf spot diseases were widespread especially […] Read more
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