Managing sclerotinia in oilseed and pulse crops in Northern and Southern farming systems

The growing of 'pulse break crops' of, chickpea, lentil, faba bean and lupin is an important crop rotational strategy adopted by Australian farming systems for the management of soil nutrition, weeds, pests and reducing the build-up of disease inoculum.  However, in recent years, the increase in frequency of these crops in the rotation, particularly in the Northern region, has seen a resulting rise in Sclerotinia stem rot (SSR) within these systems This has been driven largely by an increase in area and frequency of pulses and canola sown in the rotation, to provide a double break for cereal disease management, continuous cropping, stubble retention, and a return to more average winter and spring rainfall patterns. Canola is recognised as an excellent host for Sclerotinia and builds up high levels of soil-borne sclerotia (the survival structures for the fungus). However, increasingly a surge in SSR within the farming systems which now incorporate both pulses and canola is reducing the beneficial impacts and the viability of the use of these 'break crops' within grain cropping systems. Long-term management strategies are required to managed SSR due to the longevity of sclerotia in the soil. This project will deliver a robust integrated disease management package for sclerotinia for growers utilising pulses in their farming system in the Northern and Southern regions. This will be achieved through four focus areas: Establishing the economic thresholds for sclerotinia in key pulses; Thorough understanding of epidemiology in rotations and; Varietal susceptibility / tolerance; Chemical / cultural control options. To deliver an integrated management strategy for SSR in farming systems with a pulse-canola rotation.