Abstract
Susceptibility to diseases of economically important grapes is critical to the evaluation of germplasm recommended for commercial production and for the development of sustainable production systems. In 2018–2019, the cold-hardy grape cultivars including ‘Brianna’, ‘Crimson Pearl’, ‘Itasca’, ‘Louise Swenson’, ‘Marechal Foch’, ‘Marquette’ ‘Petite Pearl’, ‘St. Pepin’, and ‘Verona’ were evaluated on non-treated vines for susceptibility to downy mildew, powdery mildew, black rot, anthracnose, Phomopsis leaf spot and fruit rot, and Botrytis bunch rot. No cultivars were consistently disease-free, and all exhibited some degree of black rot and powdery mildew infection. Relative susceptibility to disease was not consistent across both years, but ‘Brianna’ had greater incidence of black rot and ‘Louise Swenson’ showed lower incidence of powdery mildew in both years. The relatively new cultivars ‘Crimson Pearl’ and ‘Verona’ exhibited comparatively moderate disease susceptibility overall. Growers typically manage diseases with fungicides on commercial farms, so cultivar susceptibility is just one component of a sustainable pest management and production system.
Highlights
Winegrapes are an emerging and expanding crop throughout the New England states in the northeastern U.S.A. and the recent introduction of several new cold-tolerant cultivars allows production in regions where low winter temperatures previously precluded cultivation [1]
No downy mildew was observed on fruit or foliage and no anthracnose observed on fruit during the study, and those data are not further presented
Because most materials that are suitable for use in organic production systems are less effective and often may require more applications than synthetic materials while delivering less effective results, selection of resistant cultivars is critical to success when adopting such a management program
Summary
Winegrapes are an emerging and expanding crop throughout the New England states in the northeastern U.S.A. and the recent introduction of several new cold-tolerant cultivars allows production in regions where low winter temperatures previously precluded cultivation [1]. According to a 2014 NASS report where grapes were singled out as a crop for the first time in New England, there were 360 ha of grapes grown in New England, yielding an average of 5.6 MT·ha−1 [2]. The value of the utilized production for the area was $4,200,000, resulting in an average of $11,600 per ha. This figure does not take into consideration any of the value-added income potential of turning these grapes into wine. Vermont land area devoted to grape production doubled from 2007 to 2012 [3] and increased again by 34% by 2017 [4].
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