Incidence of Colletotrichum latent infections during olive fruit development under Uruguayan environmental conditions

Abstract

The incidence of Colletotrichum latent infections during fruit development was evaluated in south-eastern and south-central agroclimatic regions of Uruguay, in Arbequina, Coratina and Picual cultivars. Colletotrichum latent infections were present at all stages of olive fruit development, with a substantially higher incidence in the south-eastern (60.5%) than the south-central region (1.2%). The south-eastern had substantially greater number of days with high relative humidity (>80%) and light rainfall (<5 mm) alone or combined with abundant rainfall and mean temperature ranging from 20 to 30 °C. Arbequina and Picual presented the highest incidence of Colletotrichum latent infections under Uruguayan agroclimatic conditions.