Redefining Disease Management for Future Agriculture

Climate change poses complex challenges for plant disease management, as rising temperatures and changing meteorological patterns influence both pathogen virulence and plant resistance mechanisms. This context underscores the need for improved and sustainable defence strategies to address future food production. The environmental impact of phytosanitary treatments is a key factor in considering their sustainability. The use of agrochemicals in crop management strategies, carries the potential to generate unfavourable outcomes on the surrounding cultivation ecosystem. Copper-based products exemplify this issue, as their extensive use has led to regulatory restrictions under EU legislation, primarily due to their inclination to persist and accumulate in the environment. LIFE Microfighter is a European project aimed at reducing copper usage in olive, grape and tomato orchards. Pseudomonas savastanoi pv. savastanoi (Pss) is the causal agent of Olive Knot that damage normal growth, obstruct the translocation of nutrients and water, and diminish both yield and production quality. The experimentation focuses on evaluating the potential of a novel biopesticide involving Pseudomonas synxantha DLS65, combined with natural zeolites, offering a sustainable solution for disease control. The trial was conducted in Rimini province (Italy) with the following treatments: (A) Microfighter treatment with 6 kg/1000 L per hectare; (B) Copper treatment at 2.1 kg/ha and (C) the Negative Control.  At the beginning of the experiment, the soil at the experimental site was analysed to determine its main physico-chemical properties and copper (Cu) content, including soil pH, organic matter, and both total and bioavailable Cu. This analysis aimed to evaluate the potential effects on crop performance and the accumulation of Cu in the soil over time under different management strategies. Field monitoring during the first year of experimentation on the average diameter of galls induced by Pss revealed that gall diameters were larger in the control thesis and in plants treated with conventional copper-based formulation, while smaller diameters were observed in plants treated with the new biopesticide. By categorizing the galls into three size classes (less than 0.3 cm, between 0.3 and 0.7 cm, and greater than 0.7 cm) and investigating the percentage distribution for each treatment, the highest proportion of smaller galls was associated with the Microfighter treatment. This suggests a potential efficacy of the biopesticide in Olive knot management, likely reflected in its ability to slow the growth of existing infections. In addition, no statistically significant differences were detected in the chemical or sensory attributes of olive oil among the treatments, which indicates that Microfighter application does not negatively influence the commercial quality characteristics of the final product.

Research funded under the LIFE-2021-SAP-ENV-ENVIRONMENT program (Life - Microfighter, no. 101074218)