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Control of brown spot of pear by reducing the overwintering inoculum through sanitation

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Abstract

Stemphylium vesicarium, the causal agent of brown spot of pear, overwinters in the leaf residues of pear and herbaceous plants of the orchard floor. Pseudothecia of the teleomorph, Pleospora allii, are formed on these residues where they produce ascospores. New methods were tested aimed at reducing this overwintering inoculum and increasing the efficacy of control of brown spot of pear. Sanitation methods were evaluated in nine trials in Girona (Spain) and Ferrara (Italy) over a 4-year period. The sanitation methods were leaf litter removal in December to February, and application of biological control agents (commercial formulates of Trichoderma spp.) to the orchard ground cover from February to May. Fungicides were also applied to the trees during the pear-growing season, scheduled according to the BSPcast model. The different methods were tested as stand-alone applications or in combination. All methods consistently reduced the disease incidence at harvest on fruit with an efficacy between 30 to 60% for leaf litter removal and more than 60% for the combination of leaf litter removal and biological control. Efficacy of sanitation alone (leaf litter removal and biological control) in reducing the brown spot level on fruit was similar in most of the trials to the efficacy obtained when fungicides were applied alone. However, integration of sanitation methods and fungicides did not improve the efficacy of disease control over the level provided by fungicides alone.

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Abbreviations

LLR:

Leaf litter removal

BCA:

Biological control agent

FUN:

Fungicides

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported in part by grants from: Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (AGL2006-04987/AGR and AGL2009-09829/AGR) of Spain; Comissió Interdepartamental de Recerca i Tecnologia of the Generalitat de Catalunya (GRCT0046); Regione Emilia-Romagna; Subdirección General de Cooperación Internacional of Spain (Hi2003-0358); MiUR Integrated Actions Italy-Spain (IT 1777).

We thank to the Mas Badia Agricultural Experiment Station and J. Pereda, E. Agustí, F. Ripoll and A. Viladecans for helpful assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Food and Agricultural Technology- XaRTA-CIDSAV, University of Girona, Av. Lluís Santaló s/n, 17071, Girona, Spain

    Isidre Llorente, Albert Vilardell, Pere Vilardell & Emilio Montesinos

  2. Institute of Entomology and Plant Pathology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Via E. Parmense 84, 29100, Piacenza, Italy

    Elisabetta Pattori & Vittorio Rossi

  3. Plant Protection Service, Regione Emilia-Romagna, Via di Corticella 133, 40129, Bologna, Italy

    Riccardo Bugiani

Authors
  1. Isidre Llorente
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  2. Albert Vilardell
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  3. Pere Vilardell
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  4. Elisabetta Pattori
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  5. Riccardo Bugiani
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  6. Vittorio Rossi
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  7. Emilio Montesinos
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Correspondence to Isidre Llorente.

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Llorente, I., Vilardell, A., Vilardell, P. et al. Control of brown spot of pear by reducing the overwintering inoculum through sanitation. Eur J Plant Pathol 128, 127–141 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10658-010-9637-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10658-010-9637-6

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