%0 Journal Article
%T Powdery Mildew Control and Yield Response of Inodorus Melon
%A Ippolito Camele
%A Gabriele Campanelli
%A Valentino Ferrari
%A Giovanni Viggiani
%J Italian Journal of Agronomy
%D 2007
%I PAGEPress Publications
%R 10.4081/ija.2009.19
%X The research was carried out on melon (Cucumis melo L. var. inodorus Naud.) in 2006 and 2007 at ¡°Pantanello¡± Experimental Farm (40¡ã 24¡¯N; 16¡ã 48¡¯E; 10 m a.s.l.; Metaponto, southern Italy) to evaluate the efficacy of a low environmental impact control strategy against powdery mildew of cucurbits. Winter melon was treated with a new anti-oidium formulation, called Stif¨¦nia, obtained from fenugreek seeds and stimulating the plant self-defence. The adopted experimental design included two control strategies (1. biological, using Stif¨¦nia and 2. conventional, using penconazole, myclobutanil and sulphur) and an untreated control (treated with water alone) applied to two cultivars of inodorus melon (cv ¡®Amarillo¡¯ and HF1 ¡®Cocorito¡¯, the latter a genotype resistant to powdery mildew). Stif¨¦nia applications were not effective against the disease; in fact, there were no differences in percentage of attacked plant surface between treated plots and untreated ones. The melon marketable yield was significantly higher with the conventional strategy respect to Stif¨¦nia and control. Repeated applications of Stif¨¦nia resulted in a significant decrease of marketable yield even in comparison with the untreated control. The cultivars significantly affected powdery mildew development, since the resistant one (¡®Cocorito¡¯) was attacked later and damaged always lower than the non-resistant genotype (¡®Amarillo¡¯). Laboratory analyses carried out on infected leaves always confirmed that Golovinomyces cichoracearum D.C. was responsible of the disease.
%K Cucumis melo L.
%K PCR
%K Golovinomyces cichoracearum
%K fruit quality.
%U http://www.agronomy.it/index.php/agro/article/view/294