The first version of an online tool to assess the risk an individual field has to Aphanomyces root rot has been developed. This application uses the frequency of lentil/peas in rotation, the time since they were last grown, and the precipitation during that time to predict the risk of Aphanomyces root rot. This tool is freely available online for producers to click on individual fields to view the risk of Aphanomyces. The crop rotation history information comes from the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Annual Crop Inventory which uses satellite data to classify crop types grown in Canada. We are continuing to refine this application and we will add other risk factors such as soil texture and measures of past crop damage potentially caused by root rot or flooding to increase the accuracy of the predictions.

Inspection of crop rotations in Saskatchewan reveal that there has been a low frequency of lentil/pea grown in the black soil zone, with most fields not having either crop in the last 13 years. Certain areas of the dark brown and brown soil zone have a much higher frequency of pea/lentil in rotation with many of the fields in these pulse belts having a moderate risk of Aphanomyces root rot. Utilization of the application by producers has the potential to reduce losses due to root rot by alerting producers to risk factors in specific fields.