The first clubroot resistant hybrid canola variety is being prepared for release.
Pioneer Hi-Bred will be first to the post with a clubroot pathotype 3 race resistant canola.
Building on genetics from the company’s worldwide research, the new variety is based on selected lines from resistant European plants.
Pioneer officials say they hope the genetics, as part of a new high performance, Roundup Ready hybrid, will find its way to an interim release for Edmonton area farmers as early as next spring.
Dave Charne, the company’s director of research, said the new variety is going through a seed increase in South America at the moment. This will significantly increase stocks of commercial hybrid seed available for spring planting in the 14 Alberta municipal districts infested with clubroot.
Read Also
University of Saskatchewan experts helping ‘herders’ in Mongolia
The Canadian government and the University of Saskatchewan are part of a $10 million project trying to help Mongolian farmers modernize their practices.
Steve Strelkov, a plant researcher at the University of Alberta, worked with Pioneer Hi-Bred to test the resistant lines.
“The company moved very rapidly on this discovery process. A lot of investment was made and quite a few partners were enlisted to make it happen this fast,” he said.
The province of Alberta played a role through its agriculture department and the Alberta Research Council.
“The province will be approaching the recommending body for an early release. This is a breakthrough for farmers,” said Strelkov.
Igor Falak has been developing a variety with significant resistance since the fungus was first discovered in Alberta in 2003.
“At first there was a little concern in the industry about this new disease found near St. Albert. But we felt we knew how fast it could spread and how much of a problem it might become. Unfortunately we were right,” he said.
Clubroot did spread rapidly, effectively removing large areas of land from canola production and threatening the industry as it spread to more than 14 counties this past summer.
Clubroot spores persist in the soil for up to 20 years, waiting for a chemical signal from the roots of susceptible crops to trigger a growth phase.
Fully infected fields experience up to 80 percent yield loss, while infestations of 10 to 20 percent cut production by up to 20 percent.
Strelkov said clubroot was causing panic in the regional industry.
“It appeared there was no control available,” he said.
“This new variety is effectively as resistant to clubroot as our best canolas are resistant to blackleg,” he said.
Falak said while this first variety shows strong resistance in field trials, it is not the whole solution.
“This one is 10 fold better than any resistance we had. We have one that will be in field trials next season that is 40 fold better,” he said.
Strelkov said genetic resistance is only one element of fighting clubroot.
“We will need more genetics in the future, as they can be vulnerable to adaptation (by pests), and other cultural and potentially chemical methods to back this up. It isn’t a one shot solution,” said the Edmonton researcher.
“The Clubroot Management Committee will be incorporating this genetic tool in the strategy plan it is giving to farmers. That will include rotation recommendations with the new resistant crops. That is the only way farmers can effectively keep this serious problem at controllable levels.”
Strelkov said the new Pioneer variety might be first, but it and other companies have resistant genetics in the research pipeline that will make their way to the variety recommending committee over the next few years.
Pioneer said the company normally uses farm scale research plots in its second-year development phase for new seed varieties, so even if interim or emergency status is not granted for the variety, a significant acreage of the new variety will be planted in 2009 and a larger scale release will take place in 2010.
