Harvest and postharvest brown rot of fruit in relation to early latent infection caused by Monilinia spp. in Hungary

In this study, the effect of early latent infection caused by Monilina spp. on harvest and postharvest brown rot of sour cherry andpeach was investigated. Two field experiments were performed in commercial orchards located at Eperjeske on sour cherry and at Siófokon peach in 2013 and 2014 in order to study the possible relationship between the incidence of early latent infection caused by Moniliniaspp. and the incidence of harvest and postharvest brown rot. No latent infection was recorded at popcorn phanological stage of the treesat both locations. The maximum incidence was detected during the pit hardening period. There was a positive correlation between theincidence of latent infection and harvest or postharvest brown rot. The average incidence of latent infection during the crop season explainedapproximatelly 20% of the total variation in the incidence of postharvest brown rot