Agraarteadus (Jun 2022)
Effect of fungicides on mycosis progression and potato yields
Abstract
The efficiency of crop cultivation technologies, including potatoes, can decrease under the influence of pests, especially in the case of untimely or low-quality protective measures. Pathogens parasitizing the vegetative surface of plants have a significant impact on the quality and yield of potato tubers. Such pathogens are fungi Phytophthora infestans (Mont) de Bary, Alternaria solani Sorauer and Alternaria alternata Keis, which are the causative agents of late blight and early blight. Early manifestation and significant development of these diseases during the growing season can lead to losses, which are estimated at 4 billion euros per year. Studies by many scientists reveal a significant positive result from the use of fungicides during the growing season of plants, harvesting and storage of crops. This article investigated the efficacy of fungicides against late blight and early blight and their effects on yield and tuber quality of the early maturing potato variety Bellarosa. The research was conducted from 2018 to 2020 at the PE Zherm of the Zhytomyr region Ukraine. The experiment scheme consisted of the following variants: Control – spraying of plants with water; Variant 1. Ridomil Gold MC 68 WP, (mancozeb, 640 g kg–1 + metalaxyl M, 40 g kg–1) – 2.5 kg ha–1 – the reference variant; Variant 2. Infinito 61 SC, 68.75% (fluopycolide, 62.5 g L–1 + propamocarb hydrochloride, 625 g L–1) – 1.5 L ha–1; Variant 3. Quadris TOP 325 SC, 32.5% (azoxystrobin, 200 g L–1 + difenoconazole, 125 g L–1) – 0.8 L ha–1. It has been established that the application of fungicides in the potato plantings against late blight and early blight reduces the spread of the leaf spot by 1.4–2.0 times at the end of the vegetation period, and its development – by 1.8–2.9 times in comparison with the Control variant. An increase in yield of potato tubers of Bellarosa variety due to the application of fungicides against leaf spot disease was within 4.5–10.9 t ha–1 in comparison with the Control variant. Among the studied preparations, the best indicators were obtained when using the fungicide Infinito 61 SC, 68.75% in potato plantings against late blight and early blight. Application of this preparation helped to reduce the spread of the studied diseases by 2.0 times, the development of diseases by 2.9 times, and increase the yield by 1.4 times compared to the variant without fungicides application. Application of fungicides also contributed to the improved quality of the tubers; in particular, we observed an increase of the dry matter content in tubers by 0.1–0.6%, ascorbic acid – by 0.2–1.1 mg% 100 g–1 compared to the variant without using the preparations.
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