home news forum careers events suppliers solutions markets expos directories catalogs resources advertise contacts
 
News Page

The news
and
beyond the news
Index of news sources
All Africa Asia/Pacific Europe Latin America Middle East North America
  Topics
  Species
Archives
News archive 1997-2008
 

United Kingdom - New licence free laboratory test offers brassica and oilseed rape growers key clubroot insight


United Kingdom
November 27, 2015

A robust, licence free laboratory test which detects clubroot resting spores in soils will be available in laboratories thanks to a project led and funded by AHDB.

The test offers brassica and oilseed rape growers an accurate way of finding and quantifying spores of clubroot in soil – enabling them to consider appropriate action in future crops.

Clubroot spores cause thousands of hectares of damage each year in brassica and oilseed crops leaving farmers only able to employ reactive strategies to coping with the disease.

The disease, which manifests itself as swollen and distorted roots underground and stunted growth, wilting and discoloured foliage above ground, can seriously affect yield and render crops valueless. This test can accurately detect clubroot at low level, meaning farmers can implement tailored and cost effective treatments for its management.

Bill Parker, Director of Research and Knowledge Exchange for Crops at the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) said, “It is AHDB’s aim to facilitate solutions for growers and this fully validated clubroot test is one such example of where this work has been successful.”

“The newly optimised test is 92% accurate compared to post-harvest observations, and can be carried out in just a few days, meaning growers can act swiftly to tackle any problems detected.

“Having funded the research and development of this test we will now make the full protocols available to any laboratory interested in offering a testing service, meaning growers can call upon these services to help combat clubroot issues on farm.” 

The protocols for the qPCR test, which incorporate a new, fast, soil preparation step have been developed, validated and tested by The University of Worcester with funding from AHDB’s Horticulture and Cereals & Oilseeds divisions. These protocols are now being made available, licence free to laboratories that can offer a commercial testing service to growers. Details can be found on the Gov.uk Contracts Finder website - www.gov.uk/contracts-finder and interested parties should contact Cathryn Lambourne: cathryn.lambourne@ahdb.org.uk

As soon as testing becomes available for growers to access, AHDB will signpost farmers and growers to the relevant laboratories. For more information on the clubroot testing project  CP 099a click here.

Clubroot test - further details:

  • AHDB Horticulture and AHDB Cereals & Oil Seeds has funded work to develop this qPCR test to quantify clubroot resting spores in soils. The test has been trialled with a wide range of UK soil types with no reduction in efficacy. The test shows 92% accuracy in predicting the risk of clubroot development compared to grower observations at harvest.
  • This approach provides growers with an integrated disease management system for control of club-root disease and meets the criteria of the European Sustainable Use Directive (SUD).
  • The protocol for the qPCR test is available to any laboratory wishing to offer this test to growers.  This includes laboratories in other countries than the UK.  Further details can be found via the Contract Finder website. www.gov.uk/contracts-finder
  • Details of the test will be FREE OF CHARGE and without licencing agreements in order to optimise uptake for growers of Brassicas and oilseed rape.


More news from: AHDB - Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board


Website: http://cereals.ahdb.org.uk/

Published: November 27, 2015

The news item on this page is copyright by the organization where it originated
Fair use notice

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

  Archive of the news section

 


Copyright @ 1992-2024 SeedQuest - All rights reserved