Effects of Fungicide Treatments for the Control of Epidemic and Exotic Calonectria Diseases in Italy

The efficacy of 11 fungicides was evaluated for the control of Calonectria infections on bottlebrush (Callistemon "Masotti") and feijoa (Acca sellowiana), with special emphasis on Calonectria pauciramosa and C. morganii, which are the most destructive species in Italian ornamental nurseries. Three nursery experiments were performed with the selected fungicides in order to determine their ability to prevent leaf spot caused by C. morganii on bottlebrush and leaf spot and crown and root rot caused by C. pauciramosa on bottlebrush and feijoa. All fungicides were effective in reducing disease infections, except for cyproconazole, propamocarb + fosetyl-Al, and K phosphite that were the least effective in reducing C. morganii leaf spot. In contrast, K phosphite proved more effective in reducing crown and root rot caused by C. pauciramosa. Fungicides were also evaluated in growth-cabinet experiments for their ability to reduce incidence and severity of leaf spot on bottlebrush caused by the exotic pathogens C. pseudomexicana, C. tunisiana, C. polizzii, and C. mexicana. Copper hydroxide, fosetyl-Al, prochloraz, prochloraz + cyproconazole, and tebuconazole were always effective in reducing Calonectria leaf spot on bottlebrush. However, some differences in levels of control might be attributable to Calonectria isolate. Overall, this study clearly indicates that new fungicides can be employed for chemical management of Calonectria infections in ornamental nurseries

Postharvest biocontrol ability of Pseudomonas synxantha against Monilinia fructicola and Monilinia fructigena on stone fruit

The biocontrol properties of the endophyte Pseudomonas synxantha DLS65 were tested in vitro and in vivo against Monilinia fructicola and Monilinia fructigena, causal agents of postharvest brown rot of stone fruit. P. synxantha cells significantly reduced the mycelial growth of both pathogens on Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA), and strongly inhibited the Monilinia fructicola growth on Peach Extract Agar (PEA). Cell-free culture filtrates inhibited the pathogens on PDA and PEA to lesser extent. The production of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), with in vitro inhibitory effects on mycelial growth, was also observed. P. synxantha significantly reduced brown rot incidence and severity on peach fruit artificially inoculated with M. fructicola after 5 d at 25 °C. Moreover, P. synxantha more significantly reduced incidence and severity after 10 d at 10 °C and after 20 d in cold storage at 0 °C in comparison to control fruit, even if its activity was never comparable to that of the synthetic fungicide Scholar® (fludioxonil). Similarly, P. synxantha exhibited an excellent antagonistic activity against M. fructigena on fruit at 10 and at 0 °C, and a weak biocontrol activity at 25 °C. Competition for nutrients and space, production of diffusible toxic metabolites and VOCs may play a role in the antagonism of P. synxantha toward M. fructicola and M. fructigena, especially at the lowest temperatures of storage. For that reason, this strain of P. synxantha could be suggested as active ingredient for the setting up of bioformulates against Monilinia species representing a limiting factor for stone fruit production

Current use and legal status of crop protection inputs

This deliverable presents the results of the survey carried out in the frame of Tasks 3.1. and Task 5.1 in the Horizon 2020 Project Organic PLUS. A common table/questionnaire for both tasks was used in order to map the use of contentious inputs linked to plant protection (mainly Cu, S and mineral oils), and the use of peat, plastic and fertilisers used in growing, in 10 countries participating in Organic-PLUS (Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Norway, Poland, Spain, Turkey and UK). The survey was carried out mainly by interviewing one to three experienced advisors per crop, asking them to fill in a table describing a typical organic production of the relevant crop, emphasising the use of various inputs. In some cases the survey was based on already available data of the Organic-PLUS partner while an online questionnaire was also developed and used (e.g. CUT for Poland). The collected raw material is presented in a separeate report, the D3.1 Annex I. Statistical data concerning the organic farming in the countries under study are also presented. The deliverable includes also documentation of current policies and legal status of the use of contentious plant protection products in organic farming with emphasis on potato, tomato, citrus and olive crops. Copper-based products are used in plant protection as bactericides and fungicides. Copper is the only active ingredient with a strong antimicrobial effect and a wide range of action that is approved for use in organic farming particularly for grape, potato and apple crops. Recently, the demonstrated adverse effects on the environment (on soil organisms and auxiliary species) have led to a reduction in its use in several European countries. The current regulation in EU related to the use of copper in organic production sets the limit of up to 6 kg copper per ha per year. For perennial crops, Member States may, by derogation, provide that the 6 kg copper limit can be exceeded in a given year provided that the average quantity actually used over a 5-year period consisting of that year and of the four preceding years does not exceed 6 kg. Among the investigated crops (mainly citrus, olive, tomato, potato, strawberry), large amounts of copper are used mainly by Mediterranean growers in citrus, olive and potato. For crops like citrus and olives the limit of 6 kg per ha and per year may not be always respected. Tomato producers apply high amounts of copper in winter crops (greenhouses). In the case of Norway, the use of copper and mineral oil were not permitted for organic growing until March 2017, when the EC regulations were implemented. However, the national limit for copper in Norway is 4 kg per ha and year, thus it is easier for these growers to comply with lower limits of copper use than those in EU. In Denmark, copper is not used in organic agriculture at all because national authorities have not (yet) been asked to approve any commercial product containing copper, or they have not approved it. Many alternatives to copper are under development, but few are already available on the market, and fewer still are currently used by growers to a substantial extent. Alternatives with a low concentration of copper ion are demonstrating good levels of efficacy. Possibly, a reduction of the concentration of copper, together with more efficient formulations, could reduce the presence of copper in the crops (and soils). Nevertheless, abandoning copper cannot be easily achieved through a simple substitution strategy (for instance, replacing copper by biocontrol products); it requires a more or less profound reconstruction of the crop production system, including changing cultivars (in favour of resistant ones), developing prophylaxis and sanitation measures, adjusting fertilisation, etc. This requires an integrative approach, which is still under-developed. Regarding sulphur, this substance is very common for organic vegetable growers, especially for greenhouse growers. The uses of sulphur can move from 10 to 100 kg/ha/year depending on the production system and the incidence of pests. However, it is seldom considered that the use of sulphur is problematic, except as a main component of sulphites in wine production. It is a sort of universal phytosanitary product: repellent to pests, killer of mites, and effective against powdery mildews. However, it is not selective, and it has harmful effects on beneficial arthropods. So, the use of sulphur can limit biological control. Alternatives to sulphur are not currently applied mainly for economic reasons since sulphur is cheap compared to other compounds. Moreover, since sulphur can be an alternative to mineral oil, its use is not easily reduced. Mineral oils are applied to exclusively control insects and mites in citrus and olive orchards and occasionally in tomato. There are not many data available for the use of mineral oils but from the data presented it was found that in some cases (e.g. in citrus) they are considered as the main contentious input. The wide spectrum of this substance makes it more versatile than other alternatives. In other cases, mineral oils are of minor use, and can easily be replaced by organic oils

Current use of peat, plastic and fertiliser inputs in organic horticultural and arable crops across Europe

The use of contentious inputs linked to plant protection, and the use of peat, plastic and fertilisers used in growing have been mapped in selected organically produced crops in 10 countries across Europe. This report refers the output of this mapping. It shows that organic production has not come very far to phase out peat or plastic. The consumption of these materials seems to be quite comparable to non-organic production systems.The main utilisation of peat is for production of young plants (transplants). Most organic growers purchase plants e.g. for citrus, olives and grafted tomatoes and the growing media has usually a high content of peat. Vegetable transplants are also commonly produced by special growers. Peat is also used for casing layers for organic mushrooms, and as a potting media for aromatic plants. For plastic, the use is extensive for mulching and to protect crops against frost, less often for insect protection. The use of plastic materials to attach young plants to sticks etc., and to protect grafting wounds in young trees, was also observed. While not big in volume, this use may contribute to micro-plastic waste. Plastic is also very common for solarisation and for tunnels and greenhouses, especially in southern countries. In northern countries,greenhouses are usually made of other materials than plastic. Further research within the Organic PLUS project will reveal farmers and growers who have worked with promising alternatives and develop these further. For applied fertilisers, which in our context need to be approved for use in certified organic production, the application of commercial products seems to be higher in some countries, e.g. Greece, whereas other countries seem to use much less. This may be explained by economic conditions of the growers, cultural differences, by the extent of organic production and development of a market for such products, by the availability of national fertiliser Companies and by other factors. Information about raw materials used to produce these fertilisers is commonly not readily available but may sometimes be found under information about the company’s history. These website sections also reveal that fusions of fertiliser Companies occur rapidly. Many fertiliser products seem to be derived from residuals from sugar or starch production. Horn grid, meat and bone meal, blood meal and feather meals are well known organic fertilisers but were not so much observed in this study. Instead, we observed that animal hides are an important raw material for organic N fertilisers. Seaweed products are quite common, whereas fish-based products were only mentioned from UK. Non-organic manure (from conventional farms) is used in all countries, commonly as pelletised dry poultry manure

Phytophthora nicotianae is the predominant Phytophthora species in citrus nurseries in Egypt

Phytophthora root rot is considered to be the most destructive disease to citrus production in Egypt. Phytophthora species are generally present in citrus nurseries, where soil pots containing the survival propagules are considered responsible for their spread into new orchards. The goal of this study was to investigate the distribution and seasonal variation of Phytophthora species in soil and feeder roots in two Egyptian citrus nurseries, characterized by different management, and to identify Phytophthora species associated with root rot. Soil and root samples were collected at monthly intervals from Sour orange and Volkameriana lemon rootstocks during March-July period. The inoculum density of Phytophthora species, and the percentage of infected feeder roots, were estimated using the plate dilution method in conjunction with selective media. Phytophthora isolates were identified according to their morphological characteristics and on the basis of the ITS regions of the rDNA. Phytophthora nicotianae was the predominant isolated species, followed by P. citrophthora and P. palmivora. Phytophthora nicotianae was detected in both nurseries, while P. citrophthora and P. palmivora were recovered only in one nursery. Inoculum density of Phytophthora species fluctuated during spring and summer according to the environmental conditions, rootstock, and nursery management practices

Fire blight (Erwinia amylovora [Burrill] Winslow) in Morocco: importance, geographical distribution and characterization

Fire blight, caused by Erwinia amylovora, was detected in Morocco in 2006 and has spread rapidly throughout the most important pome fruit-producing regions. Surveys were carried out in 2009 in the main pome fruit-growing areas in Morocco to evaluate the current situation of the disease in the country, particularly in the El Hajeb region, where important losses due to this pathogen were recorded. Samples showing symptoms associated with the disease were collected from affected apple (Malus domestica), pear (Pyrus communis) and quince (Cydonia oblonga) trees and processed for the isolation and purification of the causal agent. Other isolates collected in the period 2006–2008 were also included in this study. All the isolates were identified to genus and species levels using morphological, biochemical and serological tests. Confi rmation tests were carried out using classical PCR and Real-time PCR. Forty eight Moroccan isolates were confirmed to belong to E. amylovora. Fingerprinting methods (rep-PCR and fAFLP) showed a diversity of the isolates and resulted in grouping them in four separate subgroups. This study suggests that Moroccan isolates of  E. amylovora have multiple geographical origins

Current use of copper, mineral oils and sulphur for plant protection in organic horticultural crops across 10 European countries

The use of several plant protection inputs of mineral origin, such as copper, sulphur or mineral oils is seen as contentious by many consumers and stakeholders within the organic sector. Although the use of these inputs is legal in organic systems and also applied in non-organic agriculture, their use by organic growers raises questions for organic practice, which aspires to be free from toxic, non-renewable chemicals. Data on the current use of permitted plant protection inputs is currently scarce, especially in horticulture where chemical inputs deserve special attention since horticultural products are often readily edible. A mapping of the use of copper, sulphur and mineral oils was conducted by collecting expert knowledge across 10 European countries during May–October 2018, i.e. before the limitation of copper use to 4 kg ha−1 year−1 from February 1, 2019. Results show that copper is widely used by Mediterranean organic growers in citrus, olive, tomato and potato production. The annual limit of 6 kg ha−1 year−1 was not always respected. We also found that tomato producers apply high amounts of copper in winter crops in greenhouses. Mineral oils are applied to control scales, mites and whiteflies. Sulphur is also commonly used by organic vegetable growers, especially in greenhouses. We conclude that the high usage found in various different crops (especially Mediterranean crops) confirms the need for researching alternatives

Peat, plastic and fertiliser in organic growing across Europe - current use and future options

The use of cntentious inputs in organic growing was mapped across Europe in the H2020 Project "Organic-PLUS" (GA 774340) during 2018. This paper presents results on peat, plastic and animal-derived fertilisers in horticultural growing. Broadly, the use of peat and plastic is similar to non-organic production. Many organic growers use transplants, and the growing media usually contain peat. For plastic, the use is widespread for mulching and frost protection. Plastic is also used as tree guards and attaching clips. As a fertilisation input, dried poultry manure is used in all countries. Many more commerical fertilisers are in use. They are often made from animal hide or vinasse. The application of such products varies widely between countries. The project aims to develop alternatives to these contentious inputs, which will be presented

Deliverable 6.3: Environmental sustainability report (LCA)

This deliverable corresponds to work conducted in Task 6.3 on Environmental assessment. Environmental assessment is conducted following a life cycle perspective, specifically using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) tools recommended by the European Commission and the United Nations Environmental Programme in the frame of the Environment Footprint and Life Cycle Initiatives. This tool was selected due to its holistic vision, including both the whole production chain concept and multi criteria environmental indicators, as well as its quantitative, scientific approach to estimating environmental impacts. However, being aware of the limitations of LCA tools in its ability to assess the comprehensive sustainability of organic production systems, the current deliverable must be seen as part of a wider sustainability assessment, complemented by the additional assessments conducted in WP6 (e.g. Response Inducing Sustainability Evaluation (RISE) tool). In addition, it is the ambition of the Organic-PLUS project to contribute to improving the LCA methodology to make it more suitable for organic production systems. Therefore, facing the reality of highly variable practices within agricultural production systems, and that information about alternative inputs will increase over time; it is our ambition with this publication to provide a dynamic and easily adaptable deliverable. This means providing a transparent methodological guideline of the assessments conducted with reference scenarios, and the provision of calculation forms Excel files, which may be easily updated. We aim for a tool which will be useful beyond project completion and may facilitate stakeholder interaction. LCA has been applied in accordance with ISO standards 14040 and 14044 (2006a and b) and consequent amendments (2020 a, b, c). The methodological guideline established in the frame of EF initiative (EU-JRC, 2018) has been followed. Section 2 provides a detailed description of the methodology and models applied. According to the geographical distribution of the Organic-PLUS project partners and based on data availability, four different baseline scenarios were selected for organic production of aubergine, tomato, citrus and olive, as well as three scenarios for organic livestock production, sheep, pig and poultry. These scenarios were used as case studies to test the environmental performance of contentious inputs (e.g. copper, synthetic vitamins, peat) compared to their potential alternatives (e.g. potassium bicarbonate, thyme oil, composted organic matter). Section 3 explains the calculation forms created with the idea to have a dynamic deliverable tool, which allows changes in inputs, characterisation factors and the addition of new datasets. The practitioner can change the values in the LCI sheet for both the current scenario and alternative scenario. Section 4 provides a preliminary assessment of the suggested alternatives to replace or reduce the use of contentious inputs, whose information is being constantly improved and provided through experimentation. It is foreseen that this preliminary assessment will act as a feedback and aims to contribute to address environmental improvement of potential alternatives. A new alternative may not only mean a substitution of contentious inputs but could also include a change in practices. Therefore, because of the holistic perspective of LCA tools, consequences of implementing alternatives to contentious inputs in crop or livestock management may be accounted for. Results from the assessment of baseline scenarios show that application of copper and mineral oil leads to emissions which may be of major importance for freshwater ecotoxicity. For other impact categories, other inputs may become relevant. According to experimental trials conducted by ‘WP3 PLANT’ partners and feasibility data, we tested the substitution of copper and mineral oil with following products: Potassium hydrogen carbonate, low-copper fertilisers and thyme essential oil extracted from Thymus vulgaris. Results have shown that the alternative inputs cause very minor environmental impact. However, this shall be considered as a preliminary result since we have seen that for copper-based plant protection products, the toxicity effect depends on the type of metal speciation, which in turn depends on physic-chemical characteristic of the surrounding environment (soil and water), and in that regard specific studies are being conducted to include this behaviour in LCA (e.g. Peña et al 2017). The current LCA method does not include the characterisation of antibiotic impacts due to the lack of information regarding their effects on environmental factors assessed in LCA, therefore consequences on health and productivity remains unaddressed in LCA. In any case, the phasing out of these contentious inputs in organic agriculture seems to imply changes in livestock management rather than replacement with alternative products. The calculation forms created can be used to compare practices and add new models, which will result in a useful tool when more information is provided. Besides the traditional use of manure fertilisers coming from organic production systems, Organic-PLUS aims to study alternative products used as alternative fertilisers. From an environmental and circular economic perspective, we would consider the use of by-products or residues from other processes as potential alternative fertilisers, hence we discuss the different methodological approaches to this and highlight the importance of the potential treatments (e.g. composting, pelletising and anaerobic digestion) used to valorise these by-products into fertilisers, with a special emphasis on how emissions should be accounted for (section 4.3 and 4.4). The comparisons between peat-based growing media (seen as contentious) and compost made from locally derived materials (forest residues, horse manure), and fossil fuel-based mulching plastic foil vs. degradable plastic foil made from potato starch, showed that although the normalised and weighted value for the alternatives was lower than for the contentious inputs, there was no clear winner when looking at all the impact categories separately (section 4.5). Through a contribution analysis of the alternative compost growing media, the hotspots in its life cycle were found to be diesel consumption, transport of forest residues and emissions, all within or going to the compost plant. For the case of bio-plastic (section 4.6), an important parameter that can influence results was the thickness of the bio-plastic, thus, if the thickness was reduced, it would reduce the quantity of material manufactured (e.g., potato starch), and subsequently, the impacts could be reduced. The main critical aspects found within the life cycle inventory (LCI) of organic crop and livestock products include the lack of manufacturing datasets for inputs used in organic production systems such as several common plant protection products (PPPs) and alternative animal welfare products (e.g., antimicrobial essential oils) (Section 5.1). There are no available manufacturing datasets for biological control agents (BCAs), plant-derived essential oils (thymol, carvacrol, neem), mineral oil, pyrethrin, Spinosad and copper oxychloride. To advance in this aspect, new manufacturing LCI datasets for prevalent PPPs used in OA in Europe were developed in the frame of Organic-PLUS project (Spinosad, Bacillus subtilis, Chitosan and neem oil, specific LCIs can be found in Montemayor et al. (a, in preparation). Moreover, through the assessment conducted, other contentious inputs or hotspots aspects than the ones focused on in the Organic-PLUS project emerged. Section 5.2 provides a list of these, which are largely related to energy consumption, transport and water consumption, the latter mainly in Mediterranean regions. Toxicity and biodiversity impact categories have shown to be of special interest for organic production systems, and therefore relevant for Organic-PLUS. We have devoted special sections for each (section 5.3 and 5.4). In particular, biodiversity was found to be one of the most important and distinguishing aspects between organic and conventional systems in LCA. Hence, this aspect has been addressed in Organic-PLUS. After a review of existing approaches to deal with biodiversity loss in LCA studies, we have selected the work conducted by Knudsen et al. (2017). These authors developed characterisation factors (CFs) to include biodiversity impacts for organic and conventional agricultural production, based on standardised sampling of plant species richness in organic and conventional farms across six countries in Europe within the temperate broadleaf and mixed forest biome. However, in the context of Organic- PLUS and for agriculture in Europe, one limitation of this model is that it does not have CFs for the Mediterranean biome, one of the most agriculturally productive areas in Europe. Therefore, we have developed CFs for the Mediterranean biome using the methods described in Knudsen et al. (2017) and secondary plant richness data from organic grape, olive and arable crop farms in Spain, Italy, France and Greece (Montemayor et al., b, in preparation). An important output of the activities conducted to produce this deliverable (Task 6.3) was the detection of potential shortcomings as well as a provision of some solutions. LCA tools will continue to be developed and improved in the scientific community thus, we have also identified and prioritised potential aspects for further research beyond Organic-PLUS (Section 6). The LCA method was strictly used where it was appropriate for organic production, thus not forcing one sustainability analysis tool, like LCA, as a singular answer to all issues of organic (and conventional) production. In conclusion, through the environmental assessments conducted in Task 6.3 we can conclude that: 1) From a holistic environmental perspective, it can be stated that there are further environmental hotspot aspects, which may have major importance other than those being focussed in the Organic-PLUS project. We would highlight fossil fuel-based energy consumption such as diesel for labour operations, electricity consumption and transport. Additionally, water consumption, in particular, for dry Mediterranean regions could be an input with negative environmental implications, and hence should be seen as a contentious input. These issues are relevant for organic and conventional agriculture. 2) When alternatives to contentious inputs developed and studied in the Organic-PLUS project were considered, e.g. composted organic matter for peat in growing media, degradable plastic from potato starch for covering of soil, these products presented an improvement for some environmental aspects, but showed a worse behaviour for others. From the revealed “hotspots”, it can be derived where efforts can be put if the goal is to develop alternatives which score better in LCA. 3) LCA methodology may be useful to assess environmental effects of agricultural production, but requires more development to better grasp the particularities of organic production systems. Hence, additional sustainability assessment tools (e.g., RISE) will be applied to account for other aspects of organic agriculture at the farm-level. 4) The present publication includes adaptable calculation forms (implemented in a spreadsheet programme e.g. Microsoft Excel), which can allow for updating and creation of new scenarios. 5) Several proposals to improve datasets for organic production have been presented. 6) We have contributed to the development of characterisation factors for biodiversity indicators in agricultural production following the work initiated by Knudsen et al (2017). 7) Proposals for further research to improve the environmental assessment of organic production systems were made, emphasising that the current dominating impact categories are not well suited to discriminate between various farming practices