This webinar was presented live on February 15, 2017.
About the webinar
Clubroot is a major soilborne disease of brassica crops worldwide (causal organism, Plasmodiophora brassicae), and disease incidence and severity have been increasing on lon-term organic farms in western Oregon. The disease occurs on most brassica family crops including broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, turnip, rutabaga, and kale. In severe cases it can cause significant crop losses and heavily infested fields may be taken out of production. Thick walled resting spores of the pathogen have been shown to remain viable in soil for up to 20 years, making it difficult to eliminate the pathogen from an infested field. Therefore, once pathogen populations have developed to levels that cause economically damaging clubbing, the goal of the farmer is to manage rather than eradicate the disease. In this webinar we will explore the life-cycle of clubroot, environmental factors influence disease incidence and severity, prevention measures to minimize between field and in-field spread, and management strategies to reduce crop damage. Particular attention will be focused on soil pH management using lime because implementing an effective clubroot liming program is more challenging than liming for crop production.
About the Presenters
Aaron Heinrich is a Faculty Research Assistant in the Department of Horticulture at Oregon State University. He has an M.S. in Soils and Biogeochemistry from University of California at Davis and works on vegetable crop production issues including soil pH, nutrient, weed, irrigation, and soilborne disease management.
Alex Stone is a Vegetable Cropping Systems Specialist at the Oregon State University Department of Horticulture. She formerly worked as an organic vegetable farmer in Massachussetts.
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