Alternaria leaf blotch and fruit spot of apple in Australia

November 2011 | Presented by Dalphy Harteveld | Future Orchards® presentation

Alternaria leaf blotch and fruit spot can reduce leaf area, fruit finish and marketable yield where disease pressure is significant. Dalphy Harteveld’s Future Orchards® presentation provides an Australian perspective on the disease and the research being undertaken to better understand it.

The material is useful for recognising the problem and appreciating the role of orchard conditions, cultivar susceptibility and disease cycles in determining risk. As with other orchard diseases, correct identification is important before management decisions are made, particularly where symptoms may be confused with other disorders.

The presentation documents the state of Australian knowledge in 2011 and provides a foundation for later Alternaria work. It is best read as a research and diagnostic resource, with contemporary control decisions guided by current labels and updated regional advice.

For library users, this resource is most useful as a record of the technical thinking and field evidence available at the time. Product registrations, resistance advice and regional pest pressure can change, so any present-day control decision should be checked against current labels and local recommendations while retaining the monitoring and decision-making principles described here.