Biological control of strawberry grey mould by Chnostachys rosea under field conditions

• Published in: Phytopathology 2008-06, Vol.98 (6), p.S41-S41
• Main Authors: Cota, LV, Maffia, LA, Mizubuti, E S, Macedo, P E, Antunes, R F
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Botrytis cinerea; Fragaria
• ISSN: 0031-949X

Grey mould, caused by Botrytis cinerea, is an important strawberry disease in Brazil. As a component of our gray mould management research program, we have been evaluating pathogen biocontrol with Chnostachys rosea, and selected four isolates as potential antagonists to B. cinerea. In 2006 and 2007, under field conditions, we compared the efficiency of a mixture of the four C. rosea isolates (applied once or twice a week) to a weekly spray of procymi-done alternated with captan. Following the applications and up to harvest, we evaluated weekly: leaf colonization by C. rosea (LCCr), average number of B. cinerea conidiophores on leaves (CBc), incidence of gray mould on flowers (IFlower) and fruits (IFruit), incidence of latent infections on fruits (LI), and fruit production. With applications of C. rosea twice a week, we got higher LCCr (16.97%), smaller CBc (10.28; 78.22 in the control treatment, sprayed with water), smaller IFlower (10.02%; 50.55% in the control), and smaller IFruit (5.95%; 25.10% in the control). Yield/plot ranged between 3.49 and 3.75 kg with applications of C. rosea twice a week and between 1.74 and 1.91 kg in the control. LI was 20% in the control and less than 10% in the other treatments. From our results over the two years, we recommend at least two weekly applications of C. rosea to successfully manage gray mould in strawberry.