• Peas
• Crop Rotation
• Weed Management

Objective

To conduct a field survey to confirm the infestation of weeds in pea fields with the stem and bulb nematode. To determine the species identity of the stem and bulb nematode from the Canadian Prairies. To conduct a greenhouse study to confirm what weed species are a source of contamination of harvest samples and that yellow field pea is not the primary host for the stem and bulb nematode from the Canadian Prairies. To conduct a greenhouse study to determine if rotation crops of yellow field pea in Western Canada are or are not a host for the stem and bulb nematode from Prairie Canada. To convey findings to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency that their analysis protocols for export pea shipments may be updated to differentiate D. weischeri and D. dipsaci and reanalyze past positive samples.

Outcome

The results for this project demonstrate that the stem and bulb nematode present in yellow pea fields in the Prairie provinces to be Ditylenchus weischeri and not the quarantine stem and bulb nematode Ditylenchus dipsaci. The results of this project are important to Canadian growers because they indicate the D. dipsaci species was not monophyletic (one species) but really a cluster of species. In light of the results, phytosanitary protocols used by government agencies for screening of stem and bulb nematode species has been updated and past positive pea grain export shipments have been reanalyzed.

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