Soil pathogens affect OSR yields

摘要

Forty years of oilseed rape rotations on UK farms appeared to have resulted in some soil-related problems, which are now making their presence felt on yields, said Hutchinsons seeds manager Colin Button. Despite the steady increase in the potential performance of oilseed rape varieties, together with better fungicides and an improved understanding of nitrogen use, yields on farm haven't responded, he said at the firm's winter technical conference held in Peterborough. "There are limiting factors that we can identify, such as periods of economic pressure and overuse of farm-saved seed, but there seems to be others as well."