Abstract
Control of white rot which is one of the most serious apple diseases in Korea has mainly relied on periodical spray of protective fungicides. As the main inoculum source of the disease is pycnidiospores produced in the warts formed on affected stems of apple tree, it can be conceivable that inhibition of spore production might be an effective means for controlling the disease. Inhibitory efficacy of eight selected fungicides against sporulation of the fungus was assessed by counting the number of spores produced at detached warts treated with the fungicides of recommended dilution. They showed diverse effect on sporulation. Carbendazim and azoxystrobin suppressed sporulation almost completely, the former irreversively. Thiram and folpet promoted sporulation as producing much more number of spores than untreated control. Others showed almost no effect on sporulation. Effects of suppression and promotion in the sporulation shown by the fungicides on the control of white rot were examined by incidences of disease and infection at the plots adopted the spray programs of which the fungicide at late May was substituted by carbendazim, azoxystrobin, folpet and thiram, respectively. Disease incidence and infection frequency at the plots sprayed former two chemicals which suppressed sporulation were much lower than those of the plots adopted latter two chemicals and untreated plot at which the fungicide spray was skipped at that time. These facts were reconfirmed in the experiments conducted with carbendazim and thiram, in which 100 fruits were bagged just prior to each spray from late May to late July for elucidating the effect of the two fungicides on the action of subsequent ones. Disease incidence and infection frequency on the fruit bagged just prior to each spray were gradually increased as the seasons going on. The increase rate at the carbendazim plot was much lower than that of thiram. Especially, the fruit infected till late July at the carbendazim plot were almost completely cured by the three fungicides, iminoctadine-triacetate, tebuconazole and samzinwang, a combined formular of iminoctadine-triacetate and difenoconazole, sprayed at late July and hence. In thiram plot, infected fruit were also cured by the 3 fungicides but not remarkable. From these results, it can be concluded that control efficiency of white rot can be greatly enhanced by selecting the fungicide capable of suppress the sporulation of white rot fungus at the season when the mass dispersal of spores is not initiated.
