Research article - Peer-reviewed, 2019
Phosphite protects against potato and tomato late blight in tropical climates and has varying toxicity depending on the Phytophthora infestans isolate
Mulugeta, Tewodros; Abreha, Kibrom; Tekie, Habte; Mulatu, Bayeh; Yesuf, Mohammed; Andreasson, Erik; Liljeroth, Erland; Alexandersson, ErikAbstract
Late blight caused by the oomycete Phytophthora infestans is one of the most severe diseases of potato (Solarium tuberosum L.) and tomato (Solarium lycopersicum L.). In this study, field trials were conducted in a cool tropical highland of Ethiopia for three consecutive years to investigate the efficacy of phosphite alone and in combination with conventional fungicide against late blight in two potato cultivars and one tomato cultivar. Phosphite alone and in combination with reduced dosages of the fungicide Ridomil (mancozeb 64% and metalaxyl-M 4% (w/w)) led to effective suppression of late blight in research plots and in farmers' fields under light-to-normal late blight pressure. However, phosphite was not as effective as the fungicide under high disease pressure. Notably, phosphite was more effective against tomato late blight than against potato late blight, and gave the same protection as the fungicide in tomato. In vitro assays showed small differences in sensitivity to phosphite among five European and two Ethiopian isolates of P. infestans in terms of radial growth, sporangium production and sporangium germination, which could affect the population structure. Since phosphite can be provided at a lower price than conventional fungicides, it can reduce expenses for Ethiopian farmers with preserved late blight control.Keywords
Ethiopia; Fungicides; Phosphonite; Plant resistance inducersPublished in
Crop Protection2019, volume: 121, pages: 139-146
Publisher: ELSEVIER SCI LTD
Authors' information
Mulugeta, Tewodros
Addis Ababa University
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Plant Protection Biology
Tekie, Habte
Addis Ababa University
Mulatu, Bayeh
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Yesuf, Mohammed
Melkassa Agr Res Ctr
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Plant Protection Biology
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Plant Protection Biology
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Plant Protection Biology
Associated SLU-program
SLU Network Plant Protection
UKÄ Subject classification
Agricultural Science
Publication Identifiers
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cropro.2019.03.019
URI (permanent link to this page)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/100375