FABI members at the South African Sclerotinia Research Network workshop 2023-02-17
The last few very wet seasons, while welcomed by many, also brought with them major sclerotinia outbreaks limiting soy and sunflower yields. The South African Sclerotinia Research Network's mission is to coordinate and align research efforts across universities, industries and government to better address Sclerotinia-related issues. The second workshop hosted by the network was held in Pretoria on 15 February and was well attended by members of FABI's Grain Research Program, including program leaders (Dr Nicky Creux, Dr Markus Wilken, Dr David Nsibo and Dr Robert Mangani) and students (Mr Sikelela Buthelezi, Ms Phrasia Mapfumo, Mr Mandla Sibiya, and Ms Chanel Thomas). The sessions focused on both agricultural practices and plant pathology to help control sclerotinia outbreaks. This was an excellent forum to engage with industry and government players to align research efforts. Deep discussions revolved around mechanisms to break the pathogen's life cycle, agricultural practices that may help plants escape sclerotinia infection, such as changing flowering date or canopy closure, and chemical applications to suppress outbreaks. The aim was to identify key projects within these themes that the Network can work on together.