University News for July 28, 2010

Researchers with the University of Manitoba are confident biological control will prove effective in reducing damage caused by root maggots in canola crops.

Root maggots cost western Canadian canola growers an estimated 20 to 40 million dollars each year.

Researchers with the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences are gathering the data necessary to petition for the release of Aleochara bipustulata, a natural enemy of the cabbage root maggot found in Europe, as a biological control.

Department of Entomology head Dr. Neil Holliday says virtually no control methods are used operationally at the moment for controlling root maggot.

Clip-Dr. Neil Holliday-University of Manitoba:
Canola growers have received information from a number of researchers which suggest that high seeding rates are one way of reducing the impact of root maggots, that long rotations are a possible way of reducing root maggots and that possibly reduced tillage in some circumstances or increased tillage in other circumstances may have an effect.

One of my colleagues, Lloyd Dosdall at the University of Alberta, has been doing some work also on the timing of weed control.

The problem with all of these is that very often they do not fit with other priorities that producers may have.

Increasing the seeding rate for example increases the cost of putting in a crop and is generally not recommended by industry.

Industry is also moving to shorter rotations so that the production of canola from the land base can be increased.

So I would have to say that in general the alternative control measures are seldom practiced and in fact are often tricky to make work if they work at all.

Dr. Holliday says successful establishment of a biological control may be able to reduce root maggot populations and without cost to the producer.

For UniversityNews.Org, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

*University News is a presentation of the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Agricultural & Food Sciences