Disease scouting, identification determine method of control

Key factors that help with disease management: 

Farmers who want better disease management should seek better information.

“Diagnostics are a really important part of the disease scouting aspect as well as the follow up at the end of the season,” said Faye Dokken-Bouchard.

The plant disease specialist for the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture discussed new approaches to disease management during CropSphere in Saskatoon Jan. 13.

Proper diagnosis includes regular crop scouting and disease surveys to identify problems, as well as effectiveness of control measures.

“Diagnostics can be everything from when you’re out in the field and looking at the plant, going through the field in the proper pattern, pulling up plants and looking at the roots to the foliage of the plants, flowers that are present and the seed, and seeing if there’s anything that’s out of place or that doesn’t look quite right,” she said.

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A diagnostic lab can do further testing of samples. She added that some labs can do a process called plating,

“Plating is where you take a piece of the plant and put it on a growth media to grow pathogens. You can isolate the pathogens present using PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) technology to confirm specific pathogens based on their DNA,” she said.

“Then you can know for sure.”

Handheld phones have also helped in diagnostics.

“Now we can get microscopic images in the field,” Dokken-Bouchard said.

“It’s like having a dissecting microscope in your hand in the field. You can have it attached to the phone so that you can send a picture to a pathologist or agronomist who might be able to help you diagnose it.”

“That (a clear photo) can sometimes help us do a diagnosis right then and there, or it can at least supplement samples. If you send samples to the lab you have photos to go along with it, it can be really helpful.”

She said good record keeping and planning for the next crop are essential in managing disease.

“Knowing what you have in the field is going to be really important before you do anything about it. You need to properly identify those disease issues,” she said.