Influence of infection of a tree by Plum pox virus on further spread of the disease within a plum orchard

Abstract

Occurrence of plum pox disease after natural infection was continually monitored between 1993 and 2000 in an experimental planting of plum trees where cultivars and hybrid seedlings were evaluated. All trees after finding symptoms of this disease were immediately grubbed. Summarization of the results has proved that infection of a tree significantly increased the risk of infection of neighbouring trees despite the fact that all infected trees were discarded. In the case of adjoining trees nearby, those within the same row increased their hazard by approximately three times and those between rows doubled their hazard in comparison with the average rate of infection of plum trees by PPV. This fact also highlights the significance of timely grubbing of affected trees immediately after an appearance of symptoms of this viral disease.

Keywords

• ppv
• rate of infection
• plum orchard
• spread of ppv