Control of bacterial spot in stone fruit orchards

Abstract

This project has successfully identified new ways of managing one of the most devastating diseases of stonefruit crops, bacterial spot.
Bacterial spot (caused by Xanthomonas arboricola pv. pruni, or Xap) is the most devastating bacterial disease currently affecting Australian stonefruit crops. It has been estimated that bacterial spot affects more than one third of all stonefruit growers in Australia in wet spring/summer seasons, with fruit losses of up to 70% in highly susceptible varieties. This disease significantly reduces the numbers of saleable fruit, and if left untreated can cause long term effects such as reduced tree vigour (leading to poor fruit set and quality), branch loss and tree death in plums. The extent of the problem is so severe that some varieties are unviable for commercial production without a method of bacterial spot control.