It’s been more than a decade since clubroot was discovered in a central Alberta canola field.
It didn’t take long for researchers to develop canola varieties resistant to the soil borne disease, but it took even less time for the path-otypes to overcome that resistance.
Crop Production Services hopes its new Proven Seed canola variety, PV580 GC, will help farmers in clubroot areas continue to grow canola.
The variety is resistant to multiple clubroot pathogens.
“It is a first step in moving away from single gene to multigene resistance, which is extremely important as the clubroot pathogen continues to evolve,” said Ryan McCann of Crop Production Services.
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Twenty-seven fields have been identified and 16 confirmed to have pathotypes that are able to overcome clubroot resistance since the first case was identified two years ago.
“There is a whole bunch of virulent pathotypes that have been identified that have already overcome the current resistance on the market,” McCann said.
“In the past, there really was only one gene holding the clubroot back in a lot of markets. Like every other disease, eventually that disease will overcome that resistance.”
It took CPS four years to find and include new genetic sources that could be included in canola to continue to resist clubroot.
CPS worked with the University of Alberta and Agriculture Canada and bred the variety into its breeding program in Saskatoon.
“This is the first true multigenic clubroot variety to be on the market,” said McCann.
The new variety has two genes resistant to the clubroot pathogen and will be available to farmers next spring on a limited basis. Sales will be focused on clubroot-infested areas.
CPS breeders are also working on other clubroot resistant varieties with different resistance and additional resistance, McCann added.
