EDMONTON — Adding silicon to soil could help battle clubroot, a deadly disease in canola crops, University of Alberta research shows.
The study, the first to explore the effects of silicon on the disease in canola, showed that mixing the element with soil reduced overall clubroot symptoms in susceptible plants — those not bred for resistance to the disease — by up to 46 per cent.
The experiments revealed that infection was slowed and the formation of galls on the plants was reduced, when silicon, in the form of a water-soluble salt, was included in the soil.
As a result, the treatment also appeared to improve the height, root length and plant responses to stresses like drought and extreme heat, even in the presence of the clubroot pathogen.
“The experiment shows the potential benefits of silicon as an effective, economical tool for canola producers,” says PhD candidate and study lead Ananya Sarkar, whose work was supervised by professor Nat Kav.
Research has already shown that silicon — one of the most common elements on Earth — eases disease-related stress and also improves resistance to pathogens in other plants, Sarkar notes.
Silicon, currently an ingredient in some fertilizers, also has the advantage of being less costly to apply to canola crops than other alternatives such as liming, she adds.
By analyzing silicon’s interaction with the canola plants, Sarkar and her co-researchers also found possible routes for improving clubroot resistance.
The full article can be accessed here.
To speak with Nat Kav, please contact:
Debra Clark
University of Alberta communications associate
debra.clark@ualberta.ca