Nine years of practical experience with phenylamide resistance in Phytophthora infestans in the Netherlands

Resistance to phenylamide fungicides in thePhytophthora infestans population in the Netherlands decreased from a level of 77% of the samples containing resistant strains in 1980 to 0% in 1986 with decreasing use of metalaxyl, the only phenylamide fungicide registered for use against late blight in this country. Use of metalaxyl decreased because the fungicide alone and combinations of metalaxyl with preventive late blight fungicides were not commercially available from 1981 through the first part of the potato growing season of 1984. When metalaxyl was made available again in August 1984 in a mixture with mancozeb and from 1985 in a mixture with almost full rates of maneb and fentinacetate its use remained limited because growers were advised to apply the combination only two times per season in critical situations only to control the severe late blight epidemics of 1984 and 1985. Moreover application on seed potato crops was not allowed. In 1986 the combination was hardly used because the mild epidemic was easily controlled by preventive compounds only.In 1987 and 1988 phenylamide resistance increased to 16 and 42%, respectively, inherent to a general use of the combination in both years in most potato growing regions of up to two applications to combat a very severe epidemic.In lots of seed potatoes harvested in 1988 the percentage of blighted tubers yielding resistant isolates significantly differed from 13% for regions where seed potatoes are predominantly grown for table and processing crops to 41% for a region where predominantly starch potatoes are grown, both as seed and production crops. The more intensive use of metalaxyl combinations in the latter area through the years as compared to the other areas is assumed to be responsible for the higher incidence of resistance.In most years application of the combination induced a significant shift in the population to resistance as is indicated by the higher frequency at which resistant isolates were present in leaf samples taken from treated fields or tuber samples from the harvested crop.The strategy adopted by Dutch potato growers to combat phenylamide resistance in late blight, involving limited use of metalaxyl mixtures to a maximum of two times in critical situations only, has kept up to now resistance in the population at a level at which metalaxyl still significantly contributes to the efficacy of the combination in controlling the disease. Never-theless the observed increase in resistance in the population of 1988 after two consecutive late blight years indicates that this may change if severe epidemics occur each year.     

Toxicity of propamocarb to the late blight fungus on potato

Propamocarb (Previcur-N; propyl-[3-dimethylamino-propyl] carbamate-monohydrochloride) was testedin vivo against 32 field isolates ofPhytophthora infestans from six countries. Fungicide dosages required to achieve 90% control of the blight ranged between 676 and 1530 ppm a.i. in potted potato (cv. ‘Alpha’) plants and between 1135 and 2648 ppm in potato tuber slices. Isolates from Israel were less sensitive to the fungicide than isolates from Europe or North America. Toxicity of propamocarb was not related to resistance or sensitivity to phenylamide fungicides (e.g. metalaxyl). Nevertheless, most metalaxyl-resistant isolates from Israel were less sensitive to propamocarb than most metalaxyl-sensitive isolates from this country. Monocyclic epidemics conducted with the 20 Israeli isolates in the field showed that 1081–2012 ppm of the fungicide was required to achieve 90% control of the disease. Laboratory experiments revealed that the fungicide was poorly active against sporangial germination and had a limited curative efficacy. It exhibited a translaminar translocation in leaves but a poor acropetal or basipetal systemicity from foliage. Propamocarb + mancozeb mixtures (1:1, v/w) were synergistically effective in controlling the blight. Growers in Israel use tank mixtures of propamocarb (Dynone) and mancozeb to combat late blight in potato fields where phenylamide-resistant isolates ofP. infestans are prevalent.     

Exploiting host resistance to reduce the use of fungicides to control potato late blight

Field trials in 1996, 1997 and 1998 with six potato cultivars differing in levels of foliar and tuber race-nonspecific resistance to late blight were treated with 100, 50 and 33% of the recommended dose of the fungicide fluazinam at application intervals of 7, 14 and 21 days. Using a mixed inoculum of six or seven indigenous isolates of Phytophthora infestans small potato plots were inoculated via infector plants. A foliar blight model for the relationship between the effects of resistance, fungicide application and disease pressure was developed using multiple regression analysis. Cultivars with a high level of quantitative resistance offered the greatest potential for fungicide reduction. The model showed that the effect of resistance on integrated control increased exponentially with increasing cultivar resistance. Reducing fungicide input by lowering the dose resulted in less foliar disease than extending application intervals. The higher the disease pressure, the greater the risk associated with reducing fungicide input by extension of application intervals. The field resistance of cultivars to tuber blight mainly determined the frequency of tuber infection. Exploiting high foliar resistance to reduce fungicide input carried a high risk when cultivar resistance to tuber blight was low. When field resistance to tuber blight was high, a medium level of resistance in the foliage could be exploited to reduce fungicide dose to c . 50%, provided application was at the right time. At a high level of field resistance to both foliar and tuber blight, application intervals could be extended.     

Control of potato late blight (Phytophthora infestans) with systemic fungicides

A mixture (‘Fubol’) of metalaxyl with mancozeb, performed better than mixtures of propamocarb (as the hydrochloride) or the experimental fungicide cymoxanil with mancozeb, when applied as sprays to control potato blight in a small-scale field trial conducted in 1978. Another experimental fungicide, 2-chloro-N-(2-oxotetrahydrofuran-3-yl)acet-2″,6′-xylidide (RE 20615), applied at a greater rate but without mancozeb, was as effective as ‘Fubol’. The mixture of mancozeb and propamocarb or cymoxanil performed no better than mancozeb alone. In 1979, when blight incidence was greater, use of RE 20615/dithiocarbamate mixtures allowed the extension of spray intervals to 21 days, compared with a 14-day schedule for the dithiocarbamate alone. RE 20615, applied in 1979 to the soil within the furrows at planting time as a controlled-release granular formulation, gave adequate control of late blight up to early September, after which disease development accelerated. Yield was not significantly different from that obtained with a standard dithiocarbamate treatment.     

Stability of partial resistance in potato cultivars exposed to aggressive strains of Phytophthora infestans

Potato cultivars were evaluated for their resistance responses to aggressive strains of Phytophthora infestans in field and laboratory experiments. Analysis of variance revealed differential cultivar-by-isolate interactions for both foliar and tuber blight resistance. Differential responses occur as revealed by specific susceptibilities of cultivars to certain pathogen genotypes and changing rank order. In general, severity of late blight epidemics as observed in the haulms did not correlate well with foliar blight resistance ratings as presented in the National List of Recommended Potato Varieties. No significant correlation was found between tuber blight incidence under field conditions and the tuber blight rating in the National List. Also, there was no relation between the field and laboratory tuber blight resistance assessments. A significant association was demonstrated between late blight infection in the foliage and tuber blight incidence under field conditions. The presence of differential interaction, independent of R-gene-based resistance, indicates some adaptation of P. infestans to partial resistance and consequently adverse effects on the stability and durability of partial resistance to potato late blight.     

The effect of foliar application of phosphonate formulations on the susceptibility of potato tubers to late blight

Foliar sprays of potato plants with phosphonic acid (partially neutralised with potassium hydroxide to pH 6.4) substantially reduced infection of the tubers by Phytophthora infestans, the cause of late blight, in glasshouse and field experiments over a 4-year period. Healthy tubers of blight-susceptible cultivars removed from treated plants and artificially inoculated by spraying with sporangial/zoospore suspensions of P infestans did not develop disease symptoms, demonstrating that the phosphonate applications had directly reduced the susceptibility of tubers to infection, probably as a result of translocation into tuber tissue. In contrast, foliar application of fosetyl-aluminium did not significantly reduce tuber blight development following inoculation. Five to six sprays of partially neutralised phosphonic acid (2 kg ha-1) applied at 10-14 day intervals resulted in the least tuber infection, but such a treatment regime may not be economic. In trials where the effect of timing and rate of application of 2-4 kg phosphonic acid ha-1 was examined, a single treatment of 4 kg ha-1 applied mid- or late-season proved the most effective. A spray programme in which one or two applications of phosphonic acid are combined with use of a non-systemic or systemic fungicide to enhance foliar protection offers the possibility of controlling both foliage and tuber blight and could have a major impact in reducing overwinter survival of P infestans in tubers.     

Meta-analysis of yield response of hybrid field corn to foliar fungicides in the U.S. Corn Belt

The use of foliar fungicides on field corn has increased greatly over the past 5 years in the United States in an attempt to increase yields, despite limited evidence that use of the fungicides is consistently profitable. To assess the value of using fungicides in grain corn production, random-effects meta-analyses were performed on results from foliar fungicide experiments conducted during 2002 to 2009 in 14 states across the United States to determine the mean yield response to the fungicides azoxystrobin, pyraclostrobin, propiconazole + trifloxystrobin, and propiconazole + azoxystrobin. For all fungicides, the yield difference between treated and nontreated plots was highly variable among studies. All four fungicides resulted in a significant mean yield increase relative to the nontreated plots (P < 0.05). Mean yield difference was highest for propiconazole + trifloxystrobin (390 kg/ha), followed by propiconazole + azoxystrobin (331 kg/ha) and pyraclostrobin (256 kg/ha), and lowest for azoxystrobin (230 kg/ha). Baseline yield (mean yield in the nontreated plots) had a significant effect on yield for propiconazole + azoxystrobin (P < 0.05), whereas baseline foliar disease severity (mean severity in the nontreated plots) significantly affected the yield response to pyraclostrobin, propiconazole + trifloxystrobin, and propiconazole + azoxystrobin but not to azoxystrobin. Mean yield difference was generally higher in the lowest yield and higher disease severity categories than in the highest yield and lower disease categories. The probability of failing to recover the fungicide application cost (p(loss)) also was estimated for a range of grain corn prices and application costs. At the 10-year average corn grain price of $0.12/kg ($2.97/bushel) and application costs of $40 to 95/ha, p(loss) for disease severity <5% was 0.55 to 0.98 for pyraclostrobin, 0.62 to 0.93 for propiconazole + trifloxystrobin, 0.58 to 0.89 for propiconazole + azoxystrobin, and 0.91 to 0.99 for azoxystrobin. When disease severity was >5%, the corresponding probabilities were 0.36 to 95, 0.25 to 0.69, 0.25 to 0.64, and 0.37 to 0.98 for the four fungicides. In conclusion, the high p(loss) values found in most scenarios suggest that the use of these foliar fungicides is unlikely to be profitable when foliar disease severity is low and yield expectation is high.     

Protection of susceptible potato cultivars against late blight in mixtures increases with decreasing disease pressure

ABSTRACT Cultivar mixtures can reduce potato late blight severity on susceptible cultivars. While alternating rows of susceptible and resistant cultivars would be more acceptable than random mixtures for commercial use, they increase the genotype unit area, which is an unfavorable factor for mixture efficiency, and have been minimally efficient when disease pressure is high. The effects of disease pressure on the performance of alternating rows of cultivars possessing various types and levels of resistance were investigated in 2000 and 2001 near Quito, Ecuador, where natural pressure of late blight is high. The experiments included the highly susceptible cvs. Cecilia in 2000 and LBr37 in 2001, as well as C114 (moderately resistant) and PAN (highly resistant), planted as pure stands and as the three possible two-way combinations. Different disease pressures were obtained with three spraying schedules of a contact fungicide: nontreated, one spray every second week, and one spray weekly. The area under the disease progress curve (AUDPC) on the susceptible cultivar was 0 to 20% less in mixed than in pure plots when no fungicide was applied, 13 to 26% less with a biweekly application of fungicide, and 32 to 53% less with a weekly application. These values are comparable to those obtained in previous experiments in smaller plots with designs maximizing the distance between susceptible plants. No significant differences in mixture performance were observed according to the resistant cultivar included. Effects on yield were minimal, because of the impact of factors other than late blight. Disease pressure therefore appears as a major factor conditioning the efficiency of potato cultivar mixtures against late blight.     

Influence of site factors on yield response of winter wheat to fungicide programmes in England and Wales, 1979–1987

Results of 460 field experiments between 1979 and 1987 incorporating one, two and three fungicide sprays, with a range of active ingredients, were analysed according to site factors including previous crop, sowing date and geographical area. The average untreated yield was 7–48 t/ha, although this fluctuated widely from 6 15 t/ha in 1985 to 9 411 ha in 1984. A single spray at flag-leaf emergence gave an average yield increment of 0 59 t/ha over plots receiving no fungicide. The addition of a second spray at the first-node growth stage gave an extra benefit of 0.22 t/ha, while an additional third spray at ear emergence gave a further 0.28t/ha. The effects on yield of different spray timings were modified by other factors, of which sowing date and previous crop were most important to the first-node spray, and cultivar and geographical area to the ear emergence spray. The data suggest that all crops would benefit economically from a broad-spectrum fungicide applied at flag-leaf emergence. Additionally, crops sown in September, those following winter wheat and those in regions bordering the North Sea respond well at the first-node stage to a fungicide active against eyespot.     

Host diversity can reduce potato late blight severity for focal and general patterns of primary inoculum

ABSTRACT The use of host diversity as a tool for management of potato late blight has not been viewed as promising in the past. But the increasing importance of late blight internationally has brought new consideration to all potential management tools. We studied the effect of host diversity on epidemics of potato late blight in Oregon, where there was little outside inoculum. The experimental system consisted of susceptible potato cv. Red LaSoda and a highly resistant breeding selection, inoculated with local isolates of US-8 Phytophthora infestans. Potatoes were grown in single-genotype plots and also in a mixture of 10 susceptible and 26 resistant potato plants. Half of the plots received inoculation evenly throughout the plot (general inoculation) and half received an equal quantity of inoculum in only one corner of the plot (focal inoculation). The area under the disease progress curve (AUDPC) was greater in single genotype stands of susceptible cv. Red LaSoda inoculated throughout the plot than with stands inoculated in one focus. The host-diversity effect on foliar late blight was significant in both years of the investigation; the AUDPC was reduced by an average of 37% in 1997 and 36% in 1998, compared with the mean disease level for the potato genotypes grown separately. Though the evidence for influence of inoculum pattern on host-diversity effects was weak (P = 0.15), in both years there was a trend toward greater host-diversity effects for general inoculation. Statistical significance of host-diversity effects on tuber yield and blight were found only in one of the two years. In that year, tuber yield from both the resistant and susceptible cultivar was increased in mixtures compared with single genotype stands and tuber blight was decreased in mixtures for susceptible cv. Red LaSoda.     

Evaluation of fungicides for control of eyespot disease and yield loss nationships in winter wheat

Following the discovery of resistance to benzimidazole fungicides in the cereal eyespot pathogen Pseudocercosporella herpotrichoides in the UK in 1981, and an initial in vitro screen to select the fungicides with greatest activity against the pathogen, 40 field experiments were carried out between 1983 and 1986 to evaluate alternative fungicides for control of eyespot. At the majority of experimental sites, benomyl-resistant strains of the pathogen were present, and carbendazim did not control eyespot. Prochloraz was the most effective fungicide, reducing the eyespot index by 30–60%. There was no extra benefit from adding carbendazim to prochloraz. Flusilazole was almost as effective as prochloraz, but other fungicides had little or no effect. At sites with a high incidence of eyespot, prochloraz, with or without the addition of carbendazim, generally gave the largest yield increase. The mean yield increases each year were in the range 0·36–0·85 t/ha, and the greatest yield increase at any site was 2·27 t/ha. Most other fungicides increased yield, but carbendazim did not from 1984 to 1986. There were also yield increases at many sites with a low incidence of eyespot. Yield increases were associated with increases in thousand-grain weight at the majority of sites, but in only a few instances were there associated increases in specific weight. Prochloraz application at GS30-31 was cost effective at 71% of sites. At most sites, in regression of yield on eyespot, eyespot accounted for less than 25% of the variance in yield. The mean relationship between severe eyespot lesions and yield loss was such that each 1% increase in the percentage of tillers affected by severe eyespot was associated with a yield loss of 0·21 %. There was a significant positive correlation between eyespot at GS75 and GS30-31, and between yield increase from prochloraz treatment (at GS30-31) and eyespot at GS75, but not between yield increase and eyespot at GS30-31. The ADAS threshold for fungicide application of 20% tillers affected at GS30-31 was a reliable indicator of the cost-effectiveness of treatment at 60% of sites.     

Late blight (Phytophthora infestans (Mont) De Bary) development from potato seed-pieces treated with fungicides

Fungicides were applied as seed-piece treatments to control potato late blight, caused by Phytophthora infestans, US8, A2 biotype in controlled environment and field experiments. Efficacy of seed treatments for controlling late blight was examined under three disease development regimes simulated by artifical inoculation; (a) seed-borne infection, (b) transmission of infection resulting from spread during the seed-cutting operation, and (c) infection of foliage by aerial inoculation. Emergence of plants from the seed-borne infection was uniformly low (<40%) in controlled environment and field experiments. In controlled environment experiments some of the plants that emerged from fungicide-treated seed-pieces were infected with late blight. Following exposure of tuber surfaces to P infestans, emergence rates from seed-pieces treated with formulated products that included mancozeb in the formulation were comparable to the untreated and non-inoculated control in controlled environment and field experiments. Plants that emerged from non-inoculated seed-pieces treated with fungicides that contained active ingredients known to be effective against foliar late blight had lower percentage foliar infection after inoculation than the untreated control. Leaves close to the base of the stem had fewer infections than leaves attached at the mid region of the main stem, 14 days after inoculation, in some of the controlled environment studies. In contrast, field experiments conducted under conditions conducive to late blight development showed that none of the seed treatments applied to late blight-free seed-pieces delayed the onset and severity of late blight infection. In potato production areas at risk of early season late blight, seed treatments applied to healthy seed may confer limited protection against late blight between planting and the first scheduled applications of prophylactic foliar fungicides. © 1999 Society of Chemical Industry     

Effect of two-component cultivar mixtures on development of wheat yellow rust disease in the field and greenhouse in the Nepal Himalayas

Wheat yellow rust (WYR), caused by Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici (PST), is a major disease of wheat, and deployment of a single cultivar often leads to disease epidemics. Effect of inoculum level, foliar fungicide spray, and wheat cultivar mixtures were evaluated on disease development in the field and greenhouse in Nepal. Treatments were arranged in a split–split plot design with three replications in both experiments. Two inoculum levels of PST (low and high) were main plot factors; nontreated control and foliar spray of fungicides (Mancozeb and Bayleton) were subplot factors; and two-component cultivar mixtures, composed of different ratios of a susceptible (S) and a resistant (R) cultivars (90:10, 80:20, and 50:50, 100:0, and 0:100) were sub–subplot factors. WYR severity was assessed at different time intervals, and disease development was calculated as area under the disease progress curve (AUDPC). Inoculum level did not cause significant differences in AUDPC in the field but did in the greenhouse. Foliar spray of fungicides reduced the AUDPC in the greenhouse and field. In both experiments, AUDPC values were low in cultivar mixtures compared with a pure stand of a susceptible cultivar. As the proportion of resistant cultivar increased compared with the susceptible cultivar in the S:R mixture component, disease severity decreased with a consequent increase in grain yield. The greater yield obtained with cultivar mixtures compared with only the susceptible cultivar, independent of inoculum level and fungicide spray in the field, revealed a promising strategy to manage WYR in Nepal.     

Using crop canopy modification to manage plant diseases

Modifying crop canopies can suppress plant diseases in some crops. For example, in carrot, lateral trimming of the canopy by 30–40 % after canopy closure reduced sclerotinia rot (Sclerotinia sclerotiorum) to zero under moderate disease pressure without the use of fungicides. Trimming reduced relative humidity within the carrot canopy and increased air and soil temperature, inhibiting the formation of apothecia of S. sclerotiorum. Trimming also severed infected petioles, which reduced the opportunity for infection to progress to the carrot crown. Trimming combined with application of foliar fungicide was even more effective. Trimming reduced carrot leaf blights (Alternaria dauci, Cercospora carotae) in 1 of 3 years, when disease pressure was low. However, there was no advantage of combining trimming and fungicide sprays for leaf blight control. Canopy modification also reduces disease in legume crops. Soybean cultivars with reduced height and lodging, and early maturity, had up to a 74 % reduction in apothecia of S. sclerotiorum within the crop, and up to an 88 % reduction in disease incidence at harvest. In field pea, artificially supporting plants to reduce lodging, in combination with fungicide application, reduced the severity of mycosphaerella blight (Mycosphaerella pinodes) on pods by 67 % and increased seed yield by 54 %. In chickpea, paired-row planting that opened the canopy increased seed yield by 12 %, likely by increasing fungicide deposition. Modifications of the crop canopy can reduce disease, the need for fungicide sprays, and sometimes improve fungicide efficacy, but the results are often pathosystem-specific.     

Rational Management of Didymella rabiei in Chickpea by Integration of Genotype Resistance and Postinfection Application of Fungicides

ABSTRACT Various aspects of the integration of genotype resistance and chemical control of Ascochyta blight (caused by Didymella rabiei) in chickpea were examined in field experiments from 1993 to 1999 and in greenhouse experiments. Four commercially available chickpea cultivars representing a range of resistance to D. rabiei were used. The efficacy of chemical control in a highly susceptible cultivar was significantly (P < 0.01) related to the conduciveness of the environment to the pathogen. Adequate disease suppression (>80% control) was achieved when weather supported mild epidemics, but insufficient control (<20%) was achieved when weather supported severe epidemics. The contribution of genotype resistance to disease suppression in a moderately susceptible cultivar varied from <10% when weather supported severe epidemics to approximately 60% when weather supported mild epidemics. Spraying a moderately resistant cultivar resulted in 95% control when weather supported mild epidemics, but only 65% control was achieved when weather supported severe epidemics. The existing level of resistance in a moderately resistant cultivar resulted in 70% control when weather supported severe epidemics; fungicides improved control efficacy significantly to >95%. Under mild epidemics, moderate resistance alone provided >95% control. The level of genotype resistance available in a highly resistant cultivar was sufficient to suppress the disease under all weather conditions, even without application of fungicides. The possibility of relying on postinfection rather than prophylactic application of fungicides was tested in the greenhouse and in four field experiments. Activity of the systemic fungicide tebuconazole was detected when the fungicide was applied up to 3 days postinfection, and application of tebuconazole or difenoconazole in the field as a postinfection treatment (i.e., after rain or overhead irrigation) suppressed the disease as effectively as preventive applications and required fewer sprays. In two experiments, the interaction between genotype resistance and chemical control at various amounts of irrigation applied via overhead sprinklers (as a simulation of rain) was tested. The results show that both the level of genotype resistance and the quantity of water should be taken into account in deciding whether to apply a postinfection spray.     

Effect of two systemic fungicides on rice blast control in a rainforest zone of Nigeria

Abstract

Two systemic fungicides, benomyl (methyl 1‐((butylamino)‐carbonyl)‐1H‐benzimidazol‐2‐yl carbamate) (Benlate 50WP, E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co.) and tricyclazole (5‐methyl‐1,2,4‐triazole (3,4‐b) benzothiazole) (Beam 75 WP, Eli Lilly & Co.), were sprayed on Faro 29, a popular shallow swamp rice, at full tillering stage for the control of natural infection of rice blast caused by Pyricularia oryzae Cav. in the rainforest zone of eastern Nigeria. The rates evaluated for each fungicide were a split application of 150 + 150, 300, and 400ga.i./ha of each fungicide. Both fungicides suppressed foliar and neck blast development, but tricyclazole was superior to benomyl. One application of tricyclazole at 400g a.i./ha at full tillering stage of rice successfully suppressed blast development and resulted in a significantly (P = 005) higher grain yield than the untreated control plants by an average of 42.17% during the 2 years of this study. Similarly, benomyl at 400g a.i./ha produced 18.94% more rice grain than the control. A fungicide such as tricyclazole may therefore be recommended for control of blast in areas where resistant varieties are not available or where popular resistant varieties become susceptible to one or the other phases of the disease.     

Effects of benzothiadiazole and acetylsalicylic acid on β-1,3-glucanase activity and disease resistance in potato

Benzothiadiazole (BTH), as Bion WG50, and acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) treatments of potato foliage of field- and glasshouse-grown potato plants were compared for control of two foliar diseases, early blight ( Alternaria solani ) and powdery mildew ( Erysiphe cichoracearum ). The effect of these treatments on harvested tubers wound-inoculated with the dry rot fungus ( Fusarium semitectum ) was also evaluated. BTH (50 mg a.i. L⁻¹) gave almost complete control of both foliar pathogens on inoculated glasshouse-grown plants and reduced the severity of leaf spotting diseases (mainly early blight) in the field. BTH (100 mg a.i. L⁻¹) and ASA (400 mg a.i. L⁻¹) reduced the severity of dry rot in field-grown tubers in some post-harvest wound-inoculated treatments but not others and a similar reduction occurred with tubers inoculated post-harvest from BTH-treated plants grown under glasshouse conditions. BTH treatment increased β-1,3-glucanase activity in leaves > stem > tubers > stolons but not in roots. Increased enzyme activity was recorded for up to 45 days post-treatment.     

The influence of verticillium wilt epidemics on cotton yield in southern Spain

Experiments were conducted in the Guadalquivir Valley of Andalucía, southern Spain, in 1986 and 1987, using field plots naturally infested with different inoculum densities of the defoliating and nondefoliating pathotypes of Verticillium dahliae to determine the influence of verticillium wilt epidemics on yield of cotton cultivar Coker 310. The total number of bolls, the number of open bolls, and seed cotton yield were related to the growth stage of plants at first appearance of foliar symptoms, and to inoculum density and virulence of the V. dahliae pathotype prevailing in the soil. For the three yield components, the greatest reduction was observed in plants showing symptoms before opening of first flowers (about 650 degree-days after sowing). Yield increased with delay in the development of foliar symptoms during the crop season, and the effect of the wilt epidemics on yield was small or nil for plants that developed symptoms after opening of the first bolls (1400–1500 degree-days after sowing). A multiple regression equation was derived that related yield reduction to the physiological time accumulated from the time of sowing until the appearance of foliar symptoms and to the rate of disease intensity increase over physiological time. This multiple point model explained about 70% of the variation in cotton yield loss due to verticillium wilt.     

Integrated control of potato late blight: predicting the combined efficacy of host resistance and fungicides

Integrating cultivars that are partially resistant with reduced fungicide doses offers growers an opportunity to decrease fungicide input but still maintain disease control. To use integrated control strategies in practice requires a method to determine the combined effectiveness of particular cultivar and fungicide dose combinations. Simple models, such as additive dose models (ADM) and multiplicative survival models (MSM), have been used previously to determine the joint action of two or more pesticides. This study tests whether a model based on multiplicative survival principles can predict the joint action of fungicide doses combined with cultivars of differing partial host resistance. Data from eight field experiments on potato late blight (Phytophthora infestans) were used to test the model; the severity of foliar blight was assessed and scores used to calculate the area under the disease progress curve (AUDPC). A subset of data, derived from the most susceptible cultivar, King Edward, was used to produce dose–response curves from which parameter values were estimated, quantifying fungicide efficacy. These values, along with the untreated values for the more resistant cultivars, Cara and Sarpo Mira, were used to predict the combined efficacy of the remaining cultivar by fungicide dose combinations. Predicted efficacy was compared against observations from an independent subset of treatments from the field experiments. The analysis demonstrated that multiplicative survival principles can be applied to describe the joint efficacy of host resistance and fungicide dose combinations.     

Retention of iprodione on salad onion leaves in relation to the control of Botrytis spp.

Using bioassay and fluorescent tracer techniques it was demonstrated that more fungicide was retained on mature leaves of summer salad onion crops if 1 kg/ha iprodione wettable powder (w.p.) formulation plus wetting agent was sprayed at 280 1/ha than at 560 1/ha or 1120 1/ha.
The lowest spray volume (280 1/ha) with four sprays of iprodione w.p. (0.5 kg in October, November, December and January) gave effective control of Botrytis cinerea and significantly increased plant stand and yield. More fungicide was required to obtain equivalent results using a mixed programme of two thiram (4 kg/ha total) and two iprodione w.p. (2 kg a.i./ha total) sprays at the same application volume and intervals. Where the mixed programme was applied at 1 1 20 1/ha, 1 2 kg a.i. (total fungicide) was necessary to achieve equivalent disease control.
At 280 1/ha, retention and persistence of iprodione on onion foliage was greater with the oil-based than with the wettable powder formulation. In summer especially this resulted in improved Botrytis control and greater numbers of marketable onions. In winter onions, oil and w.p. formulations were equally effective and gave equivalent improvements in plant stand and yield.