Management Strategies for Early Blight in Potatoes: Assessment of the TOMCAST Model, Including the Aerobiological Risk Level and Critical Phenological Period

Laura Meno (), Isaac Abuley, M. Carmen Seijo and Olga Escuredo
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Laura Meno: Department of Plant Biology and Soil Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, University of Vigo, 32004 Ourense, As Lagoas, Spain
Isaac Abuley: Department of Agroecology AU Flakkebjerg, Aarhus University, Forsøgsvej 1, 4200 Aarhus, Denmark
M. Carmen Seijo: Department of Plant Biology and Soil Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, University of Vigo, 32004 Ourense, As Lagoas, Spain
Olga Escuredo: Department of Plant Biology and Soil Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, University of Vigo, 32004 Ourense, As Lagoas, Spain

Agriculture, 2024, vol. 14, issue 8, 1-15

Abstract: The use of pesticides is an efficient approach for pest management. However, their increasing application in recent decades has come under the spotlight of world policies. In this context, this study addresses the usefulness of a forecasting model (TOMCAST) combined with aerobiological information and a plant development model (physiological days, PDays) for the control of early blight in potatoes in Northwest Spain. Control plots were compared to treated plots, according to the original TOMCAST model and the daily Alternaria spp. concentration, meteorological factors, and phenological and epidemiological observations were monitored for better adjustment of the TOMCAST model to the weather conditions of the geographical area during three crop seasons. The results of the linear regression analysis showed a strong relationship between the parameters included in TOMCAST (leaf wetness and temperature) and the Alternaria spp. conidia concentration. In addition, an unbalanced pattern of trapped conidia was detected throughout the growing season, with an increase near the flowering stage. The epidemiological parameters (infection period, r-AUDPC, maximum severity value, and total and commercial yields) showed significant differences between the cultivars in the control and the TOMCAST plots in terms of r-AUDPC and the maximum severity value. Given the study’s results, the original TOMCAST model was improved with aerobiological and phenological information. The improved model recommends a first spray on a day when the following three requirements are met: Ten accumulated disease severity values (DSVs) according to the TOMCAST model, two days with an aerobiological level greater than 10 conidia/m 3 , and a PDays value greater than 200. This will reduce the number of fungicide treatments used to control early blight in potato crops, promoting the principles of sustainable agriculture.

Keywords: Alternaria spp.; Solanum tuberosum; decision support system; aerobiological risk level (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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