Only One Lucerne Eelworm Resistant
Although the problem is not widespread there are infestations of eelworm in lucerne stands scattered throughout Canterbury and this is the time of the year the signs of the disease show up, Mr T. P. Palmer, a plant breeder of the Crop Research Division at Lincoln said this week. There is stunted growth of plants with the shoots shortened and swollen, without change of colour in the leaves, and the affected areas show as definite patches of shorter growth than the rest of the stand. From this stage it can spread quite rapidly. Mr Palmer said that in a trial of about 50 varieties st Lincoln this year only one variety had shown resistance. Only odd plants from the other varieties had survived and they could yet succumb to the parasite which cannot be seen and lives within the steins.
The one resistant variety is Lahontan which was developed in the United States by the late Dr. Oliver Smith who spent some time at Canterbury Agricultural College two years ago working on lucerne with Mr C. E. Iversen, reader in agronomy at the college.
While work on resistance to eelworm has been done in the Argentine and the United States, mainly by the late Dr, Smith. Mr Palmer said this was the first time a trial bad been made in New Zealand and the results had been rather spectacular. Lahontan was not available commercially in New Zealand, Mr Palmer said, and it was not known how its yield would compare with New Zealand certified Marlborough lucerne, but it was thought it would not yield as well. “As far as we know, eelworm infestation, although serious on some individual farms, is not a widespread problem but tjo research has been done in New Zealand on the eelworm problem,” he said. “Not much is known on' its. incidence, ecology, or control, but it is fairly infectious and can be moved about through hay or on machinery. “Overseas work has shown some eelwornjs can survive long periods in dead and dry material,'’ he said.
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Press, Volume C, Issue 29638, 7 October 1961, Page 7
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346Only One Lucerne Eelworm Resistant Press, Volume C, Issue 29638, 7 October 1961, Page 7
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