Clubroot pushing past drought

Drought conditions may have decelerated the spread of clubroot across Saskatchewan this year but it didn't eradicate it.

Clubroot is a soil-borne disease of cruciferous crops that's been popping up more frequently across the prairies the last few years.

Alireza Akhavan, the provincial specialist of plant disease for the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture, said his team is working on data regarding clubroot right now but are still waiting for soil samples to be submitted.

"One thing that I can say at this time is at least in terms of visible symptoms this year due to drought we had less occurrence of clubroot in the province," he said.

The only way to kill off clubroot according to Akhavan, is using chemicals for biosecurity measures, not something farmers want to use in their fields.

"Drought condition is harsh for plants but it doesn't seem to be harsh enough to impact clubroot resisting spores," he said. "(They're) very hard structures and they are not going to be easily impacted by the temperature that is harsh for the plant itself."

Most of the time the disease is found in entrances to fields or low laying areas in the field.

"The reason perhaps is just the equipment, machine area, and traffic," he said.

Akhavan said Saskatchewan's map of clubroot will be released in January.