Field testing of strategies for fire blight control in organic fruit growing

Summary

In organic fruit growing effective control strategies are needed to prevent blossom infections by the fire blight pathogen Erwinia amylovora. Many potential control agents are under discussion and have been tested in vitro and in vivo. 19 out of 27 tested preparations showed a high efficacy against E. amylovora in vitro. Nevertheless, on detached apple blossoms only 7 of them led to a symptom reduction by more than 50%. In six field trials conducted according to the EPPO guideline PP1/166(3) BlossomProtect (82%), Myco-sin (65%) and Funguran (58%) had the highest efficiency. In 2006 and 2007, strategies to integrate BlossomProtect in spray schedules of organic apple production have been tested. The use of sulphur or lime-sulphur before or after BlossomProtect did not influence the efficiency of BlossomProtect, which showed that fire blight control is possible without compromising apple scab control. The addition of Cutisan to BlossomProtect reduced fruit russet. An alternating use of BlossomProtect and Myco-sin was shown to be possible.