In today’s Almond Matters, brought to you by Valent U.S.A., Alternaria management could prove exceptionally difficult this year. Field Market Development Specialist with Valent U.S.A., Todd Burkdoll said environmental conditions are ripe for disease development. The level of moisture in orchards with warming temperatures on the way could complicate disease management this spring.
“You put all that together and you’ve got the perfect storm for good disease development. That means that we need to be on it on the front side rather than the back side because preventative is definitely the key with these diseases,” Burkdoll noted. “If you don’t get on preventatively, they will eat your lunch and take out your crop.”
Attacking the pathogen with a program approach is going to be the most effective in preventing infection from taking hold in an orchard. Left unchecked, propagation and sporulation could reach overwhelming levels. Preventative applications are a cornerstone of Alternaria management. “Quash is really good about that. Quash is the foremost triazole, Group 3 fungicide that has very good activity on Alternaria as well as scab and shothole as well. But Alternaria is the one that can come on really bad, especially in a year like this,” Burkdoll explained.
Staying on top of fungicide programs is a critical component of keeping Alternatia pressures from causing damage in orchards. Burkdoll highlighted a case where trees were nearly defoliated at harvest due to Alternaria. The grower made just one or two applications that did not adequately address the presence of disease.
“Fungicides, we like to think they last a long time, but they don’t. They break down and so you need to go out there and continue to do battle with these diseases in a preventative fashion. That means repeated applications,” said Burkdoll. “I know that fungicides are like every other crop protection, they’re not cheap, but they do offer that control of these pathogens which is really, really key.”
Listen to the report below.