100(3)_str36

 

ISSN 1392-3196 / e-ISSN 2335-8947
Zemdirbyste-Agriculture, vol. 100, No. 3 (2013), p. 283–288
DOI  10.13080/z-a.2013.100.036

The susceptibility of pea (Pisum sativum L.) to ascochyta blight under Lithuanian conditions

Irena GAURILČIKIENĖ, Rūta ČESNULEVIČIENĖ

Abstract

During the period 2008–2010, experiments were conducted to investigate the severity of ascochyta blight in the crops of semi-leafless field pea (Pisum sativum L.) cultivars ‘Profi’, ‘Eiffel’, ‘Simona’, ‘Tinker’, ‘Mascara’ and ‘Pinochio’ in different soil and climate conditions of Lithuania: 1) on a Southeast Luvisol (LV) in Perloja, 2) on a Middle Lowland’s Cambisol (CM) in Dotnuva. The study was aimed to identify the susceptibility of various field pea cultivars to ascochyta blight under different agro-ecological conditions and to establish the effects of meteorological factors on the disease severity and to determine the composition of Ascochyta complex on pea plants.

In all experimental years, the values of area under disease progress curve (AUDPC) of ascochyta blight were higher in Perloja than in Dotnuva. Among the tested pea cultivars, ‘Tinker’ demonstrated the highest susceptibility to ascochyta blight, while ‘Simona’ and ‘Pinochio’ were less susceptible irrespective of the disease infection level. In Perloja, a significant moderate or strong correlation was identified between the AUDPC values of ascochyta blight and the amount of precipitation and sum of effective temperatures (∑ ≥ 5°C) for all field pea cultivars tested. Due to the low severity of ascochyta blight in Dotnuva, the interaction among the same factors was markedly lower. The incidence of ascochyta blight on pods was significantly influenced by the amount of precipitation in the second half of the growing season in both experimental sites, while only in Perloja it was also significantly influenced by effective temperatures. The frequency of detection of pathogens of Ascochyta complex on pea plants was high at pea seedling stage, later, until flowering, the frequency of pathogen detection diminished, and during the flowering-grain formation stage it increased again. In Dotnuva, at seedling stage and during the growing season Mycosphaerella pinodes and Phoma pinodella pathogens prevailed in the Ascochyta complex, and at the end of the growing season, Ascochyta pisi was prevalent on pods. In Perloja, the relative density of A. pisi in the population of Ascochyta complex was low during the entire growing season.

Key words: ascochyta blight, Ascochyta complex, meteorological factors, Pisum sativum.

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