How do I scout for ascochyta and anthracnose in my lentil crop?
Start with high risk areas and fields. Select and flag 5 to 10 random locations (in an “M” pattern) in the field. Early symptoms are similar for both diseases. At each point, look for small (pinhead size) brown to dark brown spots at the lower parts of the plants. Use a magnifying glass and field guides with photos. Under humid conditions, these spots expand quickly into lesions described under symptoms above. Note that anthracnose lesions are more commonly observed on stems.