Sclerotinia stem rot (SSR) is a serious but sporadic disease of broadleaf field crops in Australia. The main causal organism, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, has a host range in excess of 400 plant species including all broadleaf crop species within the dryland cropping rotation. In recent years, SSR has become an important disease of narrow leaf lupin (Lupinus angustifolius; NLL) in Western Australia’s grain growing regions, driven largely by the size of the area sown, frequency of the crop within rotation, frequency of canola within the rotation, and return to more average winter and spring rainfall patterns.

This project will take a multi-faceted approach to determining how the disease occurs and developing integrated management strategies for SSR for use by lupin growers in Western Australia. This includes investigating the host, pathogen and environment, but also defining the disease problem and determining the extent of SSR across grain production regions of Western Australia. This project aims to reduce losses in lupin due to SSR by 10%.