Combined Influence of Chitosan and Calcium Chloride on Fusarium Dry Rot Disease Under Field Conditions

Abstract

Background: Fusarium dry rot disease caused by Fusarium sambucinum Fuckel (F. sambucinum) can infect the potato tubers in the field and during storage. Yield losses by F. sambucinum reach 60%. Traditional methods to control Fusarium dry rot are fungicides application, which led to developing many isolates resistant to these fungicides. Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of calcium chloride (CaCl2) and chitosan, alone or in combination, on plant development, tuber yield, and Fusarium dry rot disease incidence under field conditions. Methods: Soil inoculated with F. sambucinum before planting. We treated the seed tubers with CaCl2 (0.5 or 1%), chitosan 0.5%, or both. The foliage was sprayed twice with CaCl2 (0.5 or 1%), 0.1% chitosan, or both. During the vegetation period, growth parameters, such as germination (%), plant height (cm), and branches number per plant, were measured. At harvest, we calculated the total and the marketable number of tubers and tuber yield. In addition, during storage, we assessed the incidence of Fusarium dry rot disease on tubers. Results: Results revealed that combined pre-planting application with 1% CaCl2 and 0.5% chitosan with 2 hours intervals, then spraying foliar with 1% CaCl2 and 0.1% chitosan twice with ten days intervals starting at 40 days after planting resulted in: a) increasing the germination, enhancing the growth parameters such as plant height and branches number per plant; b) enhancing the marketable tuber yield by 75.2 and 97.6% in Sante and Kolobok varieties, respectively; c) reducing Fusarium dry rot disease incidence by 61.9-72.7%. Conclusion: The work highlighted that the combined pre-planting and foliar application of CaCl2 and chitosan might be recommended for potato producers to reduce the incidence of Fusarium dry rot disease and augment yields.

Calcium Biofortification in Solanum tuberosum L.: Assessing the Influence of Calcium Nitrate and Calcium Chloride on Yield

“…In fact, the 6 kg/ha CaCl 2 treatment showed similar values of yield relative to the control, while 3 kg/ha CaCl 2 treatment only showed a 3.4% increase in the yield. Indeed, our data are not in accordance with a previous study that used two foliar sprays containing 2 and 4 kg/ha of CaCl 2 , which enhanced the tuber yield [13], or even according to another study carried out by [14], which showed improvements in tuber yield resulting from foliar sprays containing calcium chloride. Furthermore, the third treatment with the highest Ca content (2 kg/ha Ca(NO 3 ) 2 treatment) (Figure 1) was the one with the highest yield (Table 1).…”

Can the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index Be Used for Yield Prediction in Solanum tuberosum L. Plants Biofortified with Calcium?

“…A such, this suggests that, despite not displaying a higher NDVI value or even a significant increase in Ca in the tubers, CaCl 2 applied at a 12 kg/ha concentration showed a positive effect in promoting yield enhancement in tubers of Solanum tuberosum L. (Agria variety). Furthermore, even with the same food matrix (potatoes), other studies carried out with different varieties [19][20][21] showed higher yields with Ca foliar applications. However, according to our findings, the increase in yield with Ca foliar applications is dependent on the Ca products being applied and their concentration (Figure 2 and Table 2).…”

Enhancing the shelf stability of fresh‐cut potatoes via chemical and nonthermal treatments

“…However, chemicals such as arachidonic acid and chitosan, abscisic acid, Scarvone, and aminotriazole were used as regulators for wound healing (Ozeretskovskaya et al, 2009;Woolfson, 2018). Calcium chloride has been used to prevent and control potato diseases (Mohammed et al, 2020). Salicylic acid and calcium chloride are also used to control budding in tuber (Mushtaq et al, 2019).…”