| Arable
Wilt risk for stressed rape
Verticillium Wilt could hit oilseed rape crops especially hard this season, with
crops already under stress from unprecedented Cabbage Stem Flea Beetle
larvae attack and the effects of the prolonged waterlogging last autumn that
reduced the root capacity of many plants.
rowers are being advised to
now take extra steps with their
crops’ agronomy over the
spring and early summer.
Minimising any further stress
and maintaining plant health
remain the best way to mitigate the effects of
infection, with Amistar application offering the
potential to protect and prolong the healthy
green leaf area.
NIAB plant pathologist, Dr Tom Wood,
reported the Verticillium Wilt pathogen is
believed to infect plants in the autumn, from
root uptake of seed or soil infection. However, it
then lies dormant deep in the vascular tissue of
the plant through the growing season.
Late in the season, the infection is triggered
to develop exponentially and cause a crash in
plant material, leading to the char