Untersuchungen zur Ätiologie von Phytophthora-Primärbefall an Kartoffeln

Phytophthora-Primärbefall an Kartoffeln hat in den letzten Jahren zunehmend an Bedeutung gewonnen. Über die Ursachen und die auslösenden Faktoren von Primärbefall herrscht noch viel Unklarheit

Reduzierung des Phytophthora-Primärbefalls durch eine Kupferbeizung unter den besonderen Bedingungen des Ökologischen Kartoffelanbaus

Im ökologischen Kartoffelanbau stellt der Primärbefall ein großes Problem dar, weil er mit Kupferspritzungen nur schwer zu kontrollieren ist und schnell zum vorzeitigen Ausbruch von Sekundärbefall führen kann. Nach ergiebigen Niederschlägen und hoher Bodenfeuchte kann der Erreger Phytophthora infestans entweder von der latent infizierten Pflanzknolle im Stängel nach oben wachsen oder auf der Oberfläche der Pflanzknolle sporulieren. Unter für den Erreger optimalen Witterungsbedingungen können beide Infektionswege einen Primärbefall am Stängel auslösen

Strategien zur Minimierung des Einsatzes kupferhaltiger Fungizide bei der Krautfäulebekämpfung im Ökologischen Kartoffelanbau – ein vom Bundesprogramm Ökologischer Landbau gefördertes Forschungsprojekt

Ziel des Projektes ist es, auf Basis der witterungsbedingten Epidemiebewertung, die Kupferaufwandmengen auf das absolut notwendige Maß zu begrenzen. Dazu werden verschiedene Strategien verfolgt. Zum einen soll durch eine Pflanzgutbeizung mit Kupferpräparaten das Auftreten von Primärbefall reduziert werden, um den Epidemiebeginn und somit auch den Spritzstart nach hinten verlagern zu können. Zum andern werden zur Kontrolle des Sekundärbefalls Applikationsstrategien erarbeitet, bei denen die Kupferaufwandmengen und die Spritzabstände variabel an den Infektionsdruck angepasst werden, um mit möglichst niedrigeren Mengen auszukommen

Möglichkeiten zur Optimierung der Kupferwirkung gegen Krautfäule im Ökologischen Kartoffelanbau

Die Regulierung der Kraut- und Knollenfäule, verursacht durch Phytophthora infestans, stellt im ökologischen Landbau nach wie vor ein nur schwer zu lösendes Problem dar. Bislang ist eine befriedigende Befallsreduktion nur durch den Einsatz kupferhaltiger Pflanzenschutzmittel möglich, deren Einsatz durch die Anbauverbände, sofern überhaupt gestattet, auf 3kg pro Jahr begrenzt ist. Im Rahmen des Projekts „ÖKO-SIMPHYT“ wurden daher verschiedene Kupferapplikationsverfahren zur Bekämpfung der Phytophthora infestans-Sekundärinfektionen untersucht, um die zur Verfügung stehenden Kupfermengen optimal einzusetzen

Strategien zur Reduzierung der Kupferaufwandmengen im ökologischen Kartoffelanbau – Projekt “ÖKO-SIMPHYT“

Potato late blight (Phytophthora infestans) is still an unsolved problem in organic farming. Up to now the disease can only be controlled by copper fungicides. Our project is aiming to reduce the application of copper-containing fungicides by introduc-tion of the new blight forecasting system “ÖKO-SIMPHYT” based on meteorological parameters. Primary stem infections should be reduced by seed treatment with copper fungicides thus to postpone the beginning of the blight epidemic as well as the start of spraying. To control secondary infections on the foliage, fungicide strategies should be elaborated to achieve best efficacy with reduced amounts of copper. Therefore copper amounts and spraying intervals should be adjusted to the infection pressure. Based on the biological and epidemiological conditions for primary and secondary infections the new developed potato blight forecast system ÖKO-SIMPHYT should be optimized

Kupferminimierungsstrategien im ökologischen Kartoffelanbau – Projekt “ÖKO-SIMPHYT“: Erste Erfahrungen aus dem norddeutschen Freiland

In the research project „ÖKO-SIMPHYT“ different strategies are tested to reduce the copper application for Phytophthora infestans in organic potato cultivation. Within the first two years of our research a reduction of the total amount of copper per hectare could be accomplished when applying the new developed forecast system ÖKO-SIMPHYT. With this decision support system a reduction of copper up to 46% was possible, when the infection pressure was relatively low. These first results have now to be proven under high infection pressure conditions. Experiments were carried out in the greenhouse to test the rain stability of copper and contacting agents. It could be proved that precipitation of 30 mm is able to reduce the degree of a copper treatment by up to 25%

Phytophthora-Sekundärbefall - Kupferminimierungsstrategien im ökologischen Kartoffelanbau

Auf Grund der negativen Auswirkungen von Kupfer auf Nicht-Ziel-Organismen, wie z.B. aquatische Organismen und Regenwürmern sowie der Anreicherungsproblematik im Boden, ist eine weitere Reduzierung des Kupfereinsatzes dringend erforderlich. Deshalb werden im Rahmen des Forschungsprojekts „ÖKO-SIMPHYT“ Kupferminimierungsstrategien für den ökologischen Kartoffelanbau zur Kontrolle des Sekundärbefalls von Phytophthora infestans entwickelt

A Randomized, Controlled Trial of In-Home Drinking Water Intervention to Reduce Gastrointestinal Illness

Trials have provided conflicting estimates of the risk of gastrointestinal illness attributable to tap water. To estimate this risk in an Iowa community with a well-run water utility with microbiologically challenged source water, the authors of this 2000-2002 study randomly assigned blinded volunteers to use externally identical devices (active device: 227 households with 646 persons; sham device: 229 households with 650 persons) for 6 months (cycle A). Each group then switched to the opposite device for 6 months (cycle B). The active device contained a 1-microm absolute ceramic filter and used ultraviolet light. Episodes of highly credible gastrointestinal illness, a published measure of diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and abdominal cramps, were recorded. Water usage was recorded with personal diaries and an electronic totalizer. The numbers of episodes in cycle A among the active and sham device groups were 707 and 672, respectively; in cycle B, the numbers of episodes were 516 and 476, respectively. In a log-linear generalized estimating equations model using intention-to-treat analysis, the relative rate of highly credible gastrointestinal illness (sham vs. active) for the entire trial was 0.98 (95% confidence interval: 0.86, 1.10). No reduction in gastrointestinal illness was detected after in-home use of a device designed to be highly effective in removing microorganisms from water

Participant Blinding and Gastrointestinal Illness in a Randomized, Controlled Trial of an In-Home Drinking Water Intervention

We conducted a randomized, triple-blinded home drinking water intervention trial to determine if a large study could be undertaken while successfully blinding participants. Households were randomized 50:50 to use externally identical active or sham treatment devices. We measured the effectiveness of blinding of participants by using a published blinding index in which values >0.5 indicate successful blinding. The principal health outcome measured was “highly credible gastrointestinal illness” (HCGI). Participants (n=236) from 77 households were successfully blinded to their treatment assignment. At the end of the study, the blinding index was 0.64 (95% confidence interval 0.51-0.78). There were 103 episodes of HCGI during 10,790 person-days at risk in the sham group and 82 episodes during 11,380 person-days at risk in the active treatment group. The incidence rate ratio of disease (adjusted for the clustered sampling) was 1.32 (95% CI 0.75, 2.33) and the attributable risk was 0.24 (95% CI -0.33, 0.57). These data confirm that participants can be successfully blinded to treatment group assignment during a randomized trial of an in-home drinking water intervention

Single-particle characterization of ice-nucleating particles and ice particle residuals sampled by three different techniques

In the present work, three different techniques to separate ice-nucleating particles (INPs) as well as ice particle residuals (IPRs) from non-ice-active particles are compared. The Ice Selective Inlet (ISI) and the Ice Counterflow Virtual Impactor (Ice-CVI) sample ice particles from mixed-phase clouds and allow after evaporation in the instrument for the analysis of the residuals. The Fast Ice Nucleus Chamber (FINCH) coupled with the Ice Nuclei Pumped Counterflow Virtual Impactor (IN-PCVI) provides ice-activating conditions to aerosol particles and extracts the activated particles for analysis. The instruments were run during a joint field campaign which took place in January and February 2013 at the High Alpine Research Station Jungfraujoch (Switzerland). INPs and IPRs were analyzed offline by scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray microanalysis to determine their size, chemical composition and mixing state. Online analysis of the size and chemical composition of INP activated in FINCH was performed by laser ablation mass spectrometry. With all three INP/IPR separation techniques high abundances (median 20–70%) of instrumental contamination artifacts were observed (ISI: Si-O spheres, probably calibration aerosol; Ice-CVI: Al-O particles; FINCH + IN-PCVI: steel particles). After removal of the instrumental contamination particles, silicates, Ca-rich particles, carbonaceous material and metal oxides were the major INP/IPR particle types obtained by all three techniques. In addition, considerable amounts (median abundance mostly a few percent) of soluble material (e.g., sea salt, sulfates) were observed. As these soluble particles are often not expected to act as INP/IPR, we consider them as potential measurement artifacts. Minor types of INP/IPR include soot and Pb-bearing particles. The Pb-bearing particles are mainly present as an internal mixture with other particle types. Most samples showed a maximum of the INP/IPR size distribution at 200–400 nm in geometric diameter. In a few cases, a second supermicron maximum was identified. Soot/carbonaceous material and metal oxides were present mainly in the sub-micrometer range. Silicates and Ca-rich particles were mainly found with diameters above 1 μm (using ISI and FINCH), in contrast to the Ice-CVI which also sampled many submicron particles of both groups. Due to changing meteorological conditions, the INP/IPR composition was highly variable if different samples were compared. Thus, the observed discrepancies between the different separation techniques may partly result from the non-parallel sampling. The differences of the particle group relative number abundance as well as the mixing state of INP/IPR clearly demonstrate the need of further studies to better understand the influence of the separation techniques on the INP/IPR chemical composition. Also, it must be concluded that the abundance of contamination artifacts in the separated INP and IPR is generally large and should be corrected for, emphasizing the need for the accompanying chemical measurements. Thus, further work is needed to allow for routine operation of the three separation techniques investigated