Home Grown: Fusarium wilt trials test lettuce variety tolerance

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - In today's Home Grown, fusarium wilt is a type of disease that give growers a never-ending battle.

Some varieties of lettuce can resist the fungus while others can tolerate it and still produce a harvestable crop, and some types won't grow in the environment at all.

The University of Arizona Yuma Center of Excellence for Desert Agriculture held a field trial with 78 lettuce varieties so farmers can assess which are resistant or tolerant.

"Fusarium wilt is getting worse," said Stephanie Slinski, associate director of applied research. "The pathogen is spreading throughout the area. It's getting harder to find a field without the disease."

Out of the 78 varieties, 40 were iceberg and 38 were romaine. 

It allows the growers to decide which varieties will hold up in their field depending on the levels of fusarium wilt.