Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources (DEDJTR) Plant Pathologist, Oscar Villalta, and his team have led the development of two new tools and a control strategy to help growers predict, control and prevent brown rot losses in different Australian stonefruit production systems.

“Brown rot is a destructive fungal disease which impacts on orchard profitability, fruit quality and market access, costing the Victorian stonefruit industry an average loss of $19 million in spoilt fruit each year,” Dr Villalta said. “Research into flower and fruit susceptibility conducted at DEDJTR AgriBio, has determined the key infection criteria required for brown rot infections in plums, apricots, nectarines and peaches. This data has now been used to develop and validate a new risk management tool that growers can use to target their fungicide applications for effective blossom blight and brown rot control.

“The tool allows growers to more accurately predict infection periods, allowing them to choose the most appropriate fungicides and tailor spray programs for maximum effectiveness.”

Data from trials conducted in orchards in Victoria and New South Wales was also used to develop a rot risk tool for growers to determine the risk of brown rot before harvest and its likelihood and severity in fruit after harvest, which can help growers determine where to market their produce.

Dr Villalta said both decision support tools were tested in a series of replicated and commercial field trials conducted during growing seasons since 2012.

The new tools and control strategy are described in the brochure, ‘Best Practices for Brown Rot Management’.

The project was funded by Summerfruit Australia Ltd and the Victorian Government.