Combining Scouting and Tolerant Cultivars for the Effective Management of Leaf Blight Diseases of Carrots

ReportThe identification of a number of locally adapted and commercially acceptable varieties with tolerance to leaf blight diseases will have a significant impact on grower pest management program and profitability of carrot production. A number of the tolerant varieties identified are already being grown at present or are being evaluated on a small scale by growers and industry personnel. The increased use of the identified tolerant varieties will definitely reduce the number of fungicide applications needed for control of these diseases, thus it will reduce production costs and contribute to environmental health. The effectiveness and impact of the combined use of tolerant varieties and the recommended scouting and forecasting procedure in the management of leaf blight diseases need to be demonstrated in collaboration with carrot growers. The latter will not only greatly reduce the number of fungicide applications needed per growing season, but may well eliminate the fungicide applications especially during a growing season such as that of 1999