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Sunflower rust is a widely spread disease with
severity levels varying among years and regions of sunflower production in
Manitoba. Estimated yield losses of 25% in severely infested fields in
2003. This project will investigate the composition of the rust pathogen
affecting sunflower, and identify any shift and new races of this pathogen
in Manitoba to which the commercial sunflower hybrids are susceptible. This
investigation will help sunflower breeding companies to insert the proper
resistance genes for the most prevalent rust races. In the mean time, this
project will use several fungicides and two applications of each in order to
identify effective fungicides and the proper application time in order to
reduce the rust epidemics and the impact of lost yield and quality of
sunflower in Manitoba. The direct and short-term benefits to sunflower
growers will be in managing the risk and loss from rust epidemics, while the
long-term benefits will be in obtaining resistant sunflower hybrids from
breeding companies using the information generated from this investigation.
Dr. Khalid Rashid of Morden
Research Station, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada is a co-applicant and the
research investigator of this project.
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