MORDEN, Man. – A new fungus to fight ascochyta blight could be great news for farmers and especially seed growers, says researcher Allen Xue of the Morden Research Centre.
He is developing a biofungicide that could be the answer to costly alternatives for controlling crop disease.
Seed growers in particular can waste a lot of money and an entire growing season when a crop gets wiped out by blight, root rot or wilt.
Xue says he is developing a fungus that fights five different pathogens, which is more than he originally anticipated. He started his project after discovering the fungus’ positive properties. Some of these pathogens cause diseases in crops like canola.
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“If this will work on these pathogens, it can be used for other crops too, so that’s the key thing we feel excited about,” Xue said.
This is the first biological control agent in Canada that has shown promise in fighting disease, Xue said, although a few are used in the United States. There will be hurdles to leap before farmers can add the fungus to their war chests.
- The fungus is safe for humans and plants, but Xue wants to make sure it is compatible with other bacteria used to help peas get nitrogen and phosphorus.
- It’s possible that it will be even more powerful when combined with fungicides, but that needs to be tested.
- The procedure for registering the fungus is unclear, since it is the first of its kind.
Xue said the research centre wants to patent the fungus.
“If we have money, we can speed up the research very quickly,” he said, adding that if everything goes well, the fungus should be commercially available in three to five years.
