Prevalence and Incidence of Fusarium Wilt of Watermelon in the Ayd？n Province

Fusarium wilt is a major limiting factor in the commercial watermelon production areas in the world. In Ayd？n Province, the vine death in watermelons occurs commonly, but engagement of Fusarium wilt in the occurrence of these deaths have still unknown. In this study, the field surveys were conducted to determine prevalence and incidence of Fusarium wilt in the watermelon producing counties of Ayd？n Province in 2010-2011. In 17 counties, 470 samples were collected from the plants exhibiting disease symptoms. The surveys revealed that the disease prevalence in the counties ranged from 45% to 100%. A total of 185 Fusarium spp. isolates were recovered from the isolations. As a result of pathogenicity and identification studies, 73 isolates were identified as Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. niveum (FON). In the 45 fields where the FON isolates were found, the incidence of Fusarium wilt ranged from 0.17% to 12%