Strategies for integrated deployment of host resistance and fungicides to sustain effective crop protection

Summary

Strategies for integrated deployment of host resistance and fungicides to sustain effective crop protection

Background

Integrated control is widely believed to lead to more durable control than reliance on one control option. The evolution of fungicide insensitivity and the evolution of virulence are virtually always studied in isolation, whereas in practice the processes interact. The project builds on our previous experimental and modelling work on the evolution of fungicide insensitivity (van den Bosch & Gilligan 2008, Hobbelen et al. 2011) and the evolution of virulence (van den Bosch & Gilligan 2003; Lo Iacono et al. 2012). This project is co-funded by the Horticulture and Potato Initiative (HAPI).

Collaboration

Rothamsted Research, BASF, Belchim Crop Protection, Syngenta, James Hutton Institute (JHI), SRUC

Conclusions

Integrated control, when fungicide inputs are adjusted to the level of cultivar resistance, provides effective levels of disease control. The use of cultivar resistance delays the evolution of fungicide insensitivity and the use of fungicide delays the evolution of virulence. Integrating these two control methods extends their durability. Even moderate blight resistance is valuable for delaying the evolution of fungicide insensitivity, and the levels of cultivar resistance which have a significant effect currently exist within each market sector.
 
More information on integrated managment for blight control is available in the review below "Integrated Crop Management for late blight 2018".
Sector:
Potatoes
Project code:
114R477
Date:
01 October 2013 - 30 September 2016
Project leader:
Frank van den Bosch

Downloads

114R477 Final report Integrated Crop Management late blight

About this project

Aims and objectives

The overall aim of the project is to maximise the durability of effective control of plant pathogens by integrated deployment of host resistance and fungicides.

a) Test the effect of host resistance on selection for fungicide insensitivity.
b) Test the effect of fungicide treatments on the selection for virulence.
c) Develop a rational basis for integrated control to constrain pathogen evolution  towards fungicide insensitivity and virulence.
d) In collaboration with the AHDB Potatoes and industry partners develop strategies for the durable control of potato blight using integration of fungicides and cultivar  resistance.
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