When harmful fungi can travel far and fast, like stripe rust, it’s well worth the precaution. In susceptible wheat varieties, this destructive crop disease can reduce yields by 50-90 percent. Agronomists in southern Manitoba Identified the disease In the wheat fields this week.
this Wheat School, Dr. Kelly Turkington, a plant pathologist with Agriculture Canada, said stripe rust spores can travel from the Pacific Northwest to southern Alberta in half a day. Spores can travel from the Texas to Nebraska corridor to Manitoba in two to four days.
Stripe rust is very destructive to crops, but fungicides are very effective against rust and, when applied at the right time, growers regularly see 90 percent control. The key with fungicides is timing and awareness of a developing problem.
If you use tools such as Prairie Crop Disease Surveillance Network Growers can track the trajectory of stripe rust spores and assess the risk in their area. Surveillance and early diagnosis of rust disease plays a major role in controlling and eliminating large sources of infection.
The stage of crop cultivation and when the disease occurs will greatly affect the potential damage caused by stripe rust, Tarkington said in an interview with RealAgriculture’s Amber Bell.
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