DMI and QoI fungicides for the control of coffee leaf rust

Abstract

This study investigated the ability of different triazole and strobilurin fungicides either alone or combination when applied to the leaves and triazole to the soil for control of Coffee Leaf Rust (CLR). The experiments were performed in a greenhouse using three month-old coffee seedlings, and in the field with five years old plants using the susceptible variety ‘Catuai vermelho’, at elevation of 750 m, from 2010 to 2012, in Viçosa, Minas Gerais State, Brazil. The effects of triazole (triadimenol, cyproconazole and epoxiconazole) and strobilurin (azoxystrobin, trifloxystrobin, pyraclostrobin) was first studied in a greenhouse to evaluate the translaminar effect on CLR control. Based on the results obtained in the greenhouse, a field experiment was performed to evaluate the effect of triazole applied to the soil and triazole + strobilurin sprayed on CLR control and the effect on coffee berry yield of the plants. The different fungicides applied in the greenhouse reduced CLR severity by 8.9 % (trifloxystrobin), 79.4 % (azoxystrobin), 82.0 % (triadimenol), 93.2 % (cyproconazole), 96.6 % (epoxiconazole) and 98.5 % (pyraclostrobin) compared to that in the control plants. In the field experiment triazole + strobilurin fungicides provided effective CLR control. The co-application of epoxiconazole and pyraclostrobin or azoxystrobin sprayed twice resulted in the most effective CLR control and maintained the highest coffee berry yield. The incidence of CLR was 83.5, 54.0 and 78.5 % for the control treatments, whereas the incidence did not exceeded 24.4, 37.0 and 39.0 % on the sprayed plants. The average coffee berry yield increased by 33.9 % (lowest value) when applying triadimenol to the soil in November followed by cyproconazole + trifloxystrobin sprayed in December and February, and increased by 99.1 % (highest value) in the treatment with epoxiconazol + pyraclostrobin sprayed in December and March compared with plants that did not receive any fungicide application. The control treatment and that of triadimenol applied to the soil in November followed by cyproconazole + trifloxystrobin sprayed in December and February yielded less than 1800 (1320 to 1800) kg/ha of processed coffee, whereas the other treatments more than 2100 (2142 to 2676) kg/ha. Treatments with cyproconazole applied to the soil in November followed by cyproconazole + azoxystrobin sprayed on the leaves in December and February, epoxiconazol + pyraclostrobin sprayed on the leaves in December and March, and cyproconazole + azoxystrobin sprayed on leaves in December, February and April yielded more than 2340 (2340 to 2676) kg/ha of processed coffee. This is the first report indicating that a triazole fungicide applied to the soil and triazole + strobilurin fungicide sprayed on the leaves, efficiently controlled CLR and significantly increased coffee berry yield for three seasons.