DISEASE MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS FOR BERRY CROPS IN THE 21ST CENTURY

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Despite the many recent advances in the production of most berry crops, diseases will continue to be a major constraint to berry production in the 21 st Century. Although fungicides will probably remain an important part of future disease management programs, their use will be highly regulated and scrutinized by regulatory agencies as well as the general public. In order to minimize the use of pesticides, the development and implementation of truly integrated disease management programs must be emphasized. The objective of integrated disease management is to provide a commercially acceptable level of disease control on a consistent (year-to-year) basis with minimal fungicide use. Developing a program that integrates all available control methods can meet this objective. An effective disease management program for berry crops must emphasize the integrated use of specific cultural practices, knowledge of the pathogen and disease biology, disease resistant cultivars, timely applications of biological control agents or products and fungicides, when needed. In order to reduce the use of fungicides to an absolute minimum, the use of disease resistance cultivars, appropriate cultural practices, and biological control will need to be strongly emphasized. This discussion will focus on the various components of an integrated disease management program in the 21 st century, as well as recent developments in disease management for berry crops in the 20 th century.