A natural fungicide for the control of Erysiphe betae and Erysiphe cichoracearum
2009
Rongai, Domenico | Cerato, Claudio | Lazzeri, Luca
This study examines the effects of a vegetable fungicide on sugar beet powdery mildew (Erysiphe betae) and cucumber powdery mildew (Erysiphe cichoracearum). The formulations consisting of a dispersion of Brassicaceae meal in vegetable or mineral oils on infected leaves of sugar beet, reared in the greenhouse, and of musk melons cultivated under plastic tunnels, were tested in comparison to each oil taken separately. Both formulations containing Brassicaceae meals, caused 94% of conidia to be distorted while for the untreated group only 2% were distorted. Furthermore, the leaf area infected by E. betae was 56% for untreated plants and 2.7 and 9.9% respectively, for plants treated with meal containing mineral and vegetable oil. Vegetable oil considered separately or with Brassicaceae meals showed no phytotoxicity, while the formulations based on mineral oil showed a significantly lower fresh and dry weight on tomato plants. The low level or absence of phytotoxicity of plants treated with vegetable oil formulations suggests that to improve the efficacy of powdery mildew control, they could be used mixed with sulphur. The efficiency of the vegetable formulations in the powdery mildew control observed during these trials encourages further investigation on other parasitic fungi and foliar pathogens.
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