By Clint Thompson
To say that Neopestalotiopsis Fruit Rot has devastated Florida strawberries the past three growing seasons would be an understatement. University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) researchers are researching ways to keep the disease from being as much of a problem in the future.
One breakthrough that was discovered last season was the observance that the disease can stay in fields over the summer, says Natalia Peres, professor of plant pathology at the University of Florida/IFAS Gulf Coast Research and Education Center.
“We know now that it survives in our fields from one season to another, which is one thing I think we didn’t expect. We know what we have now is likely started from our soils. When we fumigate, we only fumigate the beds. We don’t fumigate the middles. It likely moves from the soil that’s not fumigated to the plants. That’s how it starts at the beginning of the year,” Peres said.
Clean Plants
That speaks to the importance of growers starting the season with clean plants.
“Clean plants from nursery is key, because it takes time of course for the disease to build up. If you get plants that are infected from the nursery, then it’s a really difficult battle to win. Starting with clean plants gives growers a little time until the disease builds up from what’s in the soil,” Peres said.
Then there are breeding efforts that UF scientists are currently studying. Breeders like Vance Whitaker, are looking for resistant cultivars that growers could utilize in the future. But that takes time.
“There is hope on the breeding side because have identified some sources. But breeding of course takes time. It’ll be a few years before we have cultivars that are more resistant. At least that source is there. Our breeding group is working hard to try to incorporate some sources of resistance in the cultivars,” Peres said.
Neopestalotiopsis causes leaf spots on strawberry plants. It develops quickly and produces spores on the leaves. It can cause severe leaf spotting and fruit rot under favorable weather conditions.
The disease was first discovered during the 2018-19 season in five farms and attributed to one nursery source in North Carolina.