Oilseed rape samples needed for light leaf spot research

Oilseed rape growers can help improve understanding of the crop’s number-one disease threat, light leaf spot, by sending in affected leaf samples before the end of April.

A new farmer-led research project is investigating how light leaf spot is changing across regions and seasons.

It hopes to find out what factors are linked to higher disease risk, and how it can be managed more effectively.

The Spore Scout study will run from today 26 March until 30 April and be repeated in 2027 and 2028.

See also: £2.5m farm project marks first precision-bred OSR in Europe

Supplying evidence

© Tim Scrivener

By sending in affected leaves from oilseed rape crops, growers will contribute evidence to help understand the spread of the disease, explains Yongju Huang, professor of plant pathology at the University of Hertfordshire. 

“We are keen to receive samples from growers across the UK to help us understand variations in pathogen virulence towards cultivar resistance,” says Yongju.

Samples will be collected and analysed over the three years of the project and results used to inform the development of a decision support system, which will integrate pathogen population data with real-time risk forecasting.

British On-Farm Innovation Network (Bofin) managing director Tom Allen-Stevens, who leads the project, says: “The more samples we receive, the stronger the data and more useful the results will be.”

The study is part of LLS-Erased, a three-year £2.5m farmer-led project funded by Defra’s Farming Futures R&D fund.

The aim is to tackle light leaf spot using precision breeding and new disease-management tools.

Farmers and agronomists who would like to take part should register online to receive a sampling pack including instructions, packaging and a pre-paid return envelope.