Well-balanced nutrition including healthy levels of essential micronutrients like manganese (Mn) plays a key role in a crop’s natural ability to resist diseases. Mn is known as an activator of a crop’s internal defense responses, especially when it comes to root rots. Keep reading to learn more about how manganese supports a crop’s ability to resist diseases.

Manganese (Mn) is an essential micronutrient that while needed in small amounts, plays a key role in photosynthesis. Mn sparks the photosynthesis process by splitting water after Photosytem II (PSII) fixes light to initiate the conversion of CO₂ and water into carbohydrates.

Manganese deficiency is widespread in Canadian Prairies and Eastern Canada, reducing growth and development of many crops and restricting yields and quality. In this post we will specifically examine the role of manganese in plants, the consequences if its deficiency and provide solutions to mitigate the crop stress due to manganese shortage or deficiency.

Calcium is an essential nutrient that allows plants to grow, develop, remain healthy and reproduce optimally to form seeds or fruits. Although it’s considered a secondary nutrient, a plant’s need for calcium can be as high as its needs for primary nutrients such as nitrogen and potassium.

As seeding begins to wind down across the Prairies, producers are setting their sights on the next stages of crop production and keeping their collective eye out for factors that can cause stress to vulnerable emerging plants. 

Stress brought on by weather, soil conditions, moisture (excess or insufficient), insects, diseases and herbicide application can ultimately result in poor growth and development, stalling and yield loss. To help crops better tolerate these stressful conditions, OMEX offers a family of products with an effective weapon against stress – Stress Reliever Technology™.

Stress Reliever Technology™ has been developed to help plants better deal with stress by offsetting energy re-allocation during periods of environmental stress. Three of the products in the Stress Reliever family – C3, P3 and Nutri-Boost – are formulated with this beneficial technology, along with vital macro- and micro-nutrients to help crops thrive under adverse conditions and bounce back from damage. Continue reading to find out more and see which one is right for your crop.

Root rot and clubroot are two serious diseases which can, at best, cause yield losses and, at worst, cause premature plant death. While clubroot is a disease solely affecting brassica crops, such as canola, root rot can take hold in cereals, pulses, canola and other field crops when conditions are right and pathogens present.

Managing these diseases can be challenging and require a multi-pronged approach that includes planting disease-resistant seed, longer crop rotations, fungicide application and vigilant scouting. OMEX has a wide range of products that can be used concurrently with your root rot and clubroot management tactics to promote robust, healthy roots, mitigate plant stress and correct nutrient deficiencies throughout the growing season.

The image on the right shows the difference in early-season growth and development between a root rot-infect plant (left) and a healthy plant (right).

Let’s get to the root of the problem, shall we?