Agriculture Canada says it is making progress in battling blackleg disease in canola.

The fungal disease is a serious threat for canola, which generates about one quarter of all farm crop receipts in Canada.

A team of Saskatoon-based scientists at the Agriculture Canada Research station have achieved a major milestone in the battle against blackleg.

Led by Dr. Gengqun Yu, the researchers have completed the first large scale resequencing of the blackleg pathogen in the world.

They have used this process to get a much clearer picture of Canada’s unique strains than ever before.

Armed with this knowledge, researchers can develop modern disease-resistant varieties, better predict emerging adaptations of the pathogen and find new solutions to help farmers protect their crops from the serious disease now and in the future.
—-