GrainsWest Fall 2019

Tech 2019 Grains West 40 BIO SENSORS EAUTIFUL AS THE SCENE appears, there may be something sinister in the wind that ripples through your growing crop. Invisible to the naked eye, airborne disease spores ride otherwise pleasant breezes. By the time disease symptoms become obvious, the effectiveness of control products may be diminished. Timely collection and detection of spores such as those that cause Fusarium head blight (FHB), stripe rust and tan spot can potentially counter this phantom menace. Over the coming two to three years, researchers at two Alberta-based agricultural facilities hope to produce a near-real time system that does just that. Two projects funded in part by the Alberta Wheat Commission (AWC) and Alberta Barley are among a number studying the use of airborne disease spore collection devices—generally known as biosensors. Mounted in farm fields on a post or tripod, all the systems being developed collect airborne disease spores. Some contain built-in sensors that will identify and quantify various diseases directly, while others may require the further step of an in-field DNA test of spore samples. At the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) Lethbridge Research and Development Centre, one project involves developing a biosensor system that can identify the presence and severity of up to three crop diseases. A second AAFC project is developing a quick field DNA test meant to pair with a spore collection device. It will potentially give farmers an almost immediate read on the presence of disease spores. Meanwhile, at the InnoTech Alberta research centre at Vegreville, another team is working with a biosensor design that could also alert the farmer to the presence of cereal, oilseed and pulse crops diseases. There is much lab work and field testing to be done prior to the commercialization of the three systems. There are now various spore-collecting devices on the market. Lethbridge AAFC B BY LEE HART IMAGES COURTESY OF SYAMA CHATTERTON AND SUSIE LI Detection devices will warn of airborne disease spores Researchers at the Lethbridge Research and Development Centre are developing a biosensor system (top) while another is being created at the InnoTech Alberta research Centre in Vegreville (bottom).