Horticulture: predicting strawberry fruit infection by Mucor and Rhizopus using climatic conditions and pathogen inoculum levels

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Over the past 25 years soft fruit production has grown by 600% in the UK and is now valued at > £1.5 billion. Postharvest strawberry losses in particular are largely caused by three fungal pathogens: Botrytis cinerea, Mucor spp. and Rhizopus spp. Economic losses due to fruit rotting do not result from the direct loss of marketable fruit but due primarily to the rejection of whole consignment of fruit if a single rotting fruit is detected in the consignment.Epidemiology and management of B. cinerea on strawberry is well studied worldwide. Managing B. cinerea on strawberry grown in open field can be effectively achieved with the use of disease forecasting models as demonstrated in a number of countries, including UK. Under protected cropping systems, recent research in the UK has demonstrated that rapid removal of field heat after harvesting and subsequent cool-chain management are sufficient to manage grey mould without the need to use fungicides, similar to managing grey mould on protected raspberry crops. This is because nearly all crop losses due to B. cinerea under protected cropping result from post-harvest rot development of latent infections. In contrast, as both Mucor and Rhizopus can infect fruit and rapidly lead to visual, pre-harvest fruit decay, pre-harvest management intervention may thus be necessary for the two pathogens. Currently there is, however, insufficient knowledge to predict and manage the infection of Mucor and Rhizopus on strawberry.This project aims to fill the knowledge gap on the epidemiology of soft rot caused by Mucor and Rhizopus. Specifically, it has three specific objectives: (1) To collect field data on the infection of fruit by Rhizopus and Mucor;(2) To develop, validate and finalise models predicting the risk of infection of strawberry fruit by Rhizopus and Mucor;(3) To develop and plan model implementation for use by the commercial project partner (Berry Garden Growers).Once implemented, the model can be used by growers for targeted disease management.