Effect of Skin Sooty and Decay Disease Control on ‘Niitaka’ Pear Fruit for Storage

Postharvest skin sooty dapple and decay disease of pear fruit often originates at small stain symptoms that occurred during harvest and handling. Experiments were conducted to characterize the effect of timing of application of disease control materials, and to evaluate sequential postharvest applications of fungicides or fungicides and bio-control agents. Fungicides and bio-control agents were increasingly less effective when the period between harvest and application was prolonged. Thiabendazole (TBZ) applied to fruit without artificial wounding or inoculation effectively reduced skin sooty and decay disease when applied within 3 weeks or 6 weeks in 2 years of study. TBZ, Fludioxonil and pyrimethanil were effective in controlling skin sooty and decay disease at artificial wounds inoculated with Cladosporium tenuissimum up to 14 days after inoculation. Application of TBZ at harvest followed 3 weeks later by application of Fludioxonil was superior to application of TBZ at harvest alone. Two bacterial biocontrol agents reduced skin sooty and decay disease at pear wounds inoculated with C. tenuissimum up to 14 days after inoculation with C. tenuissimum, but were ineffective when applied at 28 days after inoculation. Of possible sequential arrangements of fungicide and bio-control treatments, application of the most effective material promptly after harvest generally resulted in the highest level of disease control.