Evaluation of a decision support strategy for the control of powdery mildew, Erysiphe necator (Schw.) Burr., in grapevine in the central region of Chile.
BACKGROUND
The primary strategy to control powdery mildew in Chilean vineyards involves periodic fungicide spraying, which may lead to many environmental and human health risks. This study aimed to implement and evaluate the effectiveness and economic feasibility of a novel decision support strategy (DSS) to limit the number of treatments against this pathogen. An experiment was conducted between the 2010 and 2013 seasons in two irrigated vine fields, one containing a cultivar of Cabernet Sauvignon (CS) and the other a cultivar of Chardonnay (CH).


RESULTS
The results showed that the DSS effectively controlled powdery mildew in CS and CH vine fields, as evidenced by a disease severity lower than 3%, which was lower than that observed in untreated vines (approximately 10 and 40% for CS and CH respectively). The DS strategy required the application of only 2-3 fungicide treatments per season in key vine phenological stages, and the cost fluctuated between $US 322 and 415 ha-1, which was 40-60% cheaper than the traditional strategy employed by vine growers.


CONCLUSIONS
The decision support strategy evaluated in this trial allows a good control of powdery mildew for various types of epidemic with an early and late initiation. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.
Departamento de Fruticultura y Enología, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
Héctor
H
Valdés-Gómez
Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Universidad de Talca, Talca, Chile.
Miguel
M
Araya-Alman
Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Universidad de Talca, Talca, Chile.
Carolina
C
Pañitrur-De la Fuente
Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Universidad de Talca, Talca, Chile.
Nicolás
N
Verdugo-Vásquez
Fruit Pathology Laboratory, Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Universidad de Talca, Talca, Chile.
Mauricio
M
Lolas
Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Universidad de Talca, Talca, Chile.
César
C
Acevedo-Opazo
INRA, UMR SYSTEM, Montpellier, France.
Christian
C
Gary
INRA, UMR SAVE, Villenave d'Ornon, France.
Agnès
A
Calonnec
D001203:Ascomycota / Q000502:physiology*; D002677:Chile; D002980:Climate; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D003661:Decision Support Techniques; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D027843:Vitis / Q000382:microbiology*
grapevine disease; integrated control; sustainable management; vineyard