Objective
The main objectives are as follows :
* To develop methods for estimating disease severities and host parameters, like healthy leaf area duration and healthy leaf area absorption.
* To determine losses caused by single diseases and by combinations of several diseases.
* To determine the effects of control measures on the development of diseases and on plant growth.
* To determine physiological parameters like photosynthetic efficiency of leaves affected by different pathogens.
* To model the development of diseases and their effects on the formation of yield.
* To design a system for integrated disease management on bean.
Expected Outcome
The work carried out in this project should result in the design of a system for integrated disease management on bean which will include not only the actual disease situation but also the status of the host plant. With the implementation of this system, bean growers should be supported in making better decisions on control measures which will meet the goals of farmers, consumers and government in reducing yield losses while at the same time safeguarding against the longer term risk of environmental pollution, hazards to human health and reduced agricultural sustainability.
The key activities envisaged are :
* Field experiments on bean will be carried out to assess the effects of single diseases and disease combinations on host growth and yield formation. The following diseases will be considered, some of which may be induced by inoculation: rust, anthracnose, angular leaf spot, Fusarium wilt, common bacterial blight and bean golden mosaic. In addition, experiments to quantify the effects of control on disease dynamics as well as on host growth will be conducted. Radiation as well as other meteorological data will be recorded by automatic weather stations. Besides the manual assessments of the host growth, measurements will be carried out with a radiometer and a ceptometer.
* In laboratory experiments the influence of the diseases, alone and in combination, on the relative net photosynthetic rate and on fluorescence will be determined. Moreover, chlorophyll fluorescence images will be used to map photosynthetic efficiency of leaves.
* The global analysis of all field data and the results of the laboratory experiments will be the basis for the development of a model to describe host growth and disease dynamics as well as the effects of diseases on yield formation. A system for integrated disease management will be designed using cost-benefit-analyses from control experiments in the fields.
Fields of science
Topic(s)
Call for proposal
Data not availableFunding Scheme
CSC - Cost-sharing contractsCoordinator
30419 HANNOVER
Germany