How researchers are developing sclerotinia stem rot resistant canola

Sclerotinia stem rot is a canola disease that is challenging to manage using rotation due to the wide range of crops that play host to the fungus that causes it. Since there are no Australian canola cultivars with sclerotinia resistance, the disease is usually managed with preventative fungicide sprays at flowering. However, fungicides can be costly, and their return on investment is difficult to predict.   In an ideal world, Australian growers would have access to canola cultivars with resistance to sclerotinia stem rot. And that’s exactly what researchers at the Centre for Crop and Disease Management (CCDM), a co-investment of GRDC and Curtin, are trying to develop. In this episode, we’re joined by Senior Research Fellow and Project Lead, Mark Derbyshire, to find out how. Contact: Mark Derbyshire, CCDM [e-mail]   More information:      New breeding lines and field screening methods for developing sclerotinia stem rot resistant canola cultivars   Project Code: CUR1403-002BLX Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices