A new approach for developing a sustainable disease management system for bean based on healthy leaf area duration and photosynthetic efficiency

• Grant number: 95/04521-5
• Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants
• Start date: June 01, 1996
• End date: September 30, 2000
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy - Plant Health
• Principal Investigator: Armando Bergamin Filho
• Grantee: Armando Bergamin Filho
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant(s): 98/05143-2 - Wounded-bud inoculation of ustilago scitaminea: effects on the sugarcane smut progress curve., AR.EXT; 98/04951-8 - Effect of phaeoisariopsis griseola on chlorophyllase activity and chlorophyll content of common bean phaseolus vulgaris leaves., AR.EXT; 97/10625-3 - Richard Donald Berger | University of Florida - United States, AV.EXT

Abstract

The overall objective of the project is to design a system for integrated disease management on bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) which will not only consider the actual situation of the diseases but also the status of the host plant. This approach is based on the premise that crop response to damage by diseases is not just a function of the disease severities, but is rather determined by the quantity of leaf area and duration of heathy tissue operating over the life time of the crop. The following bean diseases will be considered: bean rust (Uromyces appendiculatus), anthracnose (Colletotrichum lindemuthianum), and angular leaf spot (Phaeoisariopsis griseola). With its implementation, the system will help farmers to make better decisions on control measures and thus meet the goals of farmers, consumers, and government in reducing yield losses while at the same time safeguarding against the longer term risk of environmental pollution, hazards to human healthy and reduced agriculture sustainability. Specific objectives are: (i) to identify methods and technical devices for the determination of host parameters like leaf area index (LAI), healthy area duration (HAD), and heathy area absorption (HAA); (ii) to assess the expected yield losses for each single disease and for the combination of two or more diseases; (iii) to measure the photosynthetic efficiency of leaves within the full range of attack by pathogens; (iv) to quantify the effects of control measures on the dynamics of diseases and on host development; (v) to use the measurements of photosynthetic activity from the laboratory in the prediction of yield in the field. (AU)