Ontwikkeling van een systeemaanpak voor gezonde vruchten in de keten

This project aims to develop a sustainable system approach for fruit rot problems in vegetables based on plant resilience and integrated pest management (IPM). This project was contributed by Top sector Horticulture & Breeding, Dutch Produce Association, Dutch Horticultural Board, Biobest Group N.V.and Horti Nova B.V. In the first three years of the project laboratory, greenhouse and field trials were performed. The results of this project confirmed that a multiple approach is most effective and a single treatment is not sufficient enough. The use of biological antagonists was one of the most effective measures to protect the flowers against fruit rot. Greenhouse trials with plant hormones indicate that sensitivity of a crop to fruit rot is affected by increased jasmonic acid/ethylene production. The infection process can be inhibited by climate measures when flowers are exposed to high relative humidity and protected from high radiation. The temperature seems to have less influence. The irradiation has a strong effect on the crop which is measurable in a changed composition of plant sap analyses and sap flow movement in the plant. Different screening strategies appear to have little influence on the sap flow movement. The research in the fourth year focused on further development of an early monitoring system through the detection of Fusarium in young fruits and improvement of biological control under commercial greenhouse conditions in The Netherlands.