Infection Risk-Based Application of Plant Resistance Inducers for the Control of Downy and Powdery Mildews in Vineyards

Abstract

Plant resistance inducers (PRIs) are potential alternatives for controlling grapevine downy (DM) and powdery (PM) mildews in vineyards. In a 3-year field study, we evaluated the field efficacy of six commercial PRIs of chemical and natural origin against DM and PM diseases when applied at designated vine growth stages in a mixture with low doses of copper and sulfur, and only when advised by weather-driven disease models. The disease severity and incidence were evaluated for each season at key growth stages (i.e., the end of flowering, berries pea-sized, veraison, and pre-harvest), and areas under the disease progress curves (AUDPC) were calculated and compared with those of nontreated vines. These risk-based applications resulted in a 41% and 61% reduction of interventions against DM and PM, respectively, compared to the official advice for integrated pest management in the growing area. These applications provided a disease control efficacy of 88% for DM and 93% for PM; the disease severity on bunches never exceeded 5%. Overall, when the disease severity was expressed as AUDPC, we observed higher efficacy of all the PRIs for PM, and of laminarin and cerevisane for DM. We also found that potassium phosphonate and fosetyl-Al (commonly used against DM) were effective against PM, and cos-oga (used against PM) was effective against DM. These results broaden the application and integration of PRIs in viticulture.