Flowering has begun in many winter canola fields, and Meghan Moran, canola and edible bean specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA), has recently posted two articles on the OMAFRA Field Crop News website on the topic of canola management.
White mould (also known as Sclerotinia stem rot) and cabbage seedpod weevil (CSW) are two key pests of winter canola at flowering. CSW may begin to appear just prior to bolting and are found on flower buds until pods begin to form; adults are most abundant at field edges. The thick canopy, moisture in the canopy and the moderate temperatures that commonly occur during flowering stages of winter canola provide ideal conditions for mould development where a source of inoculum is present.
These pests also affect spring canola and management strategies are the same. |READ MORE
Moran has found that many Ontario canola producers tank-mix boron with a preventative white mould fungicide and apply it at 20 to 50 per cent bloom, prompting an examination of whether foliar boron reduces flower abortion or improves yield. While published research from across Canada does not show a consistent positive yield response to foliar boron applications when there is not a boron deficiency, Moran goes a bit deeper into the reasons for applying boron and the situations in which it is beneficial. |READ MORE
