Abstract
The area planted with avocado crops in Colombia has been growing rapidly in recent years, especially for export varieties such as Hass. The increase in planted area coincided with increased phytosanitary problems, where pathogens such as fungi of the genus Verticillium spp. are becoming of economic importance. The objective of this study was to evaluate different control strategies for avocado wilt disease caused by Verticillium spp., under in vitro, net house, and field conditions. Strategies tested included fungicides (benomyl, azoxystrobin, captan, and carbendazim), beneficial and antagonistic microorganisms (Trichoderma sp., and Rhizoglomus fasciculatum), and physical and cultural practices such as solarization, drainage and removal of diseased tissues. Treatments T7fi (pruning-solarization-Trichoderma-mycorrhiza-sucrose-organic matter-drainage) and T8fi (fungicide-pruning-solarization-Trichoderma-mycorrhiza-sucrose-organic matter-drainage), showed the greatest reduction in the area under disease progress curve and Verticillium dahliae inoculum in soil and plant tissues under field conditions. Fruit with extra quality increased 120.8% with T7fi and 108% with T8fi, compared to the control with diseased trees. The highest costs were identified for T7fi and T8fi; however, these treatments also showed the best cost/benefit relationship. Integrated approaches as in T7fi and T8fi showed the best results for Verticillium wilt control. As no fungicides of chemical synthesis are included in T7fi (pruning-solarisation-Trichoderma-mycorrhiza-sucrose-organic matter-drainage), it should be preferred to T8fi, which does include them, to avoid their negative impacts on avocado production.
Highlights
The genus of fungi Verticillium Nees comprises a cosmopolitan group of Ascomycetes, within which are classified devastating plant pathogen species that cause vascular wilt and plant death in a number of crops [1,2]
Control of plant diseases caused by Verticillium spp. are a challenge because infections start through the roots, making it difficult to perform detection of this causal agent and limiting the effect of most fungicides
All fungicides tested inhibited more than 95% the growth of V. dahliae (p < 0.05) (Figure 1A)
Summary
The genus of fungi Verticillium Nees comprises a cosmopolitan group of Ascomycetes, within which are classified devastating plant pathogen species that cause vascular wilt and plant death in a number of crops [1,2]. Verticillium spp. may survive in the environment for long periods of time by resistant structures and present a wide range of host plants [1,2,3,4,5]. Control of plant diseases caused by Verticillium spp. are a challenge because infections start through the roots, making it difficult to perform detection of this causal agent and limiting the effect of most fungicides. Most control measures of diseases caused by Verticillium spp. are based on application of synthetic chemicals to the soil, which usually increase costs, may induce resistance in pathogen populations, show toxicity or affect the ozone layer as methyl bromide, and present other adverse effects on the environment and human health [1,2,5]
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