Agriculture and Food or Rural Extension offices on a fact sheet called Management of Lentil Anthracnose. Three of the 4 categories in the ranking system are fairly straightforward. The fourth, disease symptoms, is more complicated, especially to the untrained eye. Ascochyta blight is generally well known to most Saskatchewan growers. The infection starts out with tiny leaf and stem lesions.
Infected pods lead to reduced seed quality and yield.
Anthracnose generally does not affect seed quality. But it spreads more rapidly than ascochyta. The infection is very aggressive on stems, and cuts off the flow of water and nutrients in the plant. Stems soon die and large brown patches of dead plants show up in the field. Identifying early lesions of anthracnose and distinguishing them from ascochyta is difficult if you haven't had some training.