Take control of clubroot in OSR

摘要

Perfect conditions last autumn have led to an increase in reported cases of clubroot in oilseed rape and farmers are being warned the yield-slashing disease could become even worse in the future.Clubroot is caused by the soil-borne fungus Plasmodiophora bras-sicae and is an extremely persistent pathogen due to its specific lifecycle.Infection begins when exudates from roots of nearby host plants stimulate resting spores to germinate and produce motile zoospores that swim through soil water and infect root hairs, explains Adas plant pathologist Julie Smith.