A research scientist with Agriculture Canada warned last week that pythium could become another big headache for Manitoba grain producers.
“We’re seeing more and more of it,” said Mario Therrien, a barley breeder at Agriculture Canada’s Brandon Research Centre.
“Unless it stops raining, we’re going to see it as a major problem.”
Pythium is a fungus spread by spores. It thrives in saturated soils and interferes with a plant’s ability to take in nutrients through its roots.
Two years ago, farmers in western Manitoba struggled to plant crops into waterlogged fields. Last year, farmers on the east side of the province suffered crop losses because of excess moisture.
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Those conditions are conducive to pythium.
“Pythium, when it really takes off, can be very nasty,” Therrien said.
The areas most prone to the disease are in the Red River Valley and areas with hummocky soils.
Hummocky soils are common in Manitoba’s parkland region, where there is rolling terrain with high spots and low spots. Much of western Manitoba has this.
The threat posed by pythium will subside if drier weather returns during the growing season to replace the wet cycle of recent years.
But if the overabundance of moisture continues, Therrien said producers concerned about pythium might have some tough decisions to make.
In areas where the disease poses a threat, producers who have low-lying areas scattered across their fields might consider more drainage work. Another option would be to plant low-lying areas to crops less susceptible to pythium, such as legumes.
“That would be a royal pain in the butt,” Therrien said, “but they may not have an option.”
Possible solution
If there’s a risk that most of the field will become saturated during the growing season, a possible option would be the installation of tiling.
Tiling involves burying perforated pipes beneath the surface of the field. The pipes capture moisture from the soil and then remove it from the field.
Although tiling can be expensive to install, Therrien said that might be an option in chronically wet soil or soil prone to waterlogging.
“Where it’s wet is where pythium is going to cause grief.”
