5.5
GfH-Project in Verticillium Research
Sponsor:
Bayerische Landesanstalt für Landwirtschaft, Institut für Pflanzenbau und Pflanzenzüchtung (Bavarian State Research Center for Agriculture, Institute for Plant Production and Plant Breeding)
Financing:
Förderung aus Mitteln der Gesellschaft für Hopfenforschung (GfH) (Supported by the Society for Hop Research)
Project Management: S. Euringer Team:
K. Lutz, Team IPZ 5b
Collaboration:
AG Züchtungsforschung Hopfen (IPZ 5c): (WG Breeding Research): Dr. E. Seigner, P. Hager, R. Enders, A. Lutz, J. Kneidl Dr. S. Radišek, Slovenian Institute of Hop Research and Brewing, Slovenia
Duration:
June 1, 2017 to October 29, 2023
Objectives Since the first appearance of lethal strains of Verticillium nonalfalfae, we have been able to observe a continuously increasing spread of the infestation of this aggressive, wilt-causing agent in the hop growing region of the Hallertau. The pathogen is a fungus that lives in the soils of a wide range of hosts where it can survive in the form of a permanent mycelium for up to 5 years. There are no direct countermeasures against it. To manage the disease infestation, therefore, requires an integrated approach consisting of sanitary measures, breeding efforts, adaptation of cultivation technologies, and remedial concepts. A rapid dissemination of new knowledge serves to help hop growers with the implementation of management measures in infested plots and contributes to recovery work as quickly as possible. Method Surveys of practices at hop farms with wilting problems are intended to generate data that can lead to effective cultivation-technical measures that can be implemented in practice to prevent and reduce attacks of this fungus. The recovery of infested plots needs to be supervised scientifically in order to develop innovative approaches for optimizing soil remediation. In addition, there is a need to develop and optimize existing detection and analysis methods for the pathogen. One approach is to use eggplants as sensitive indicator plants. This biotest allows for an assessment of the effects of recovery measures, the infection potential of soils and shredded hop bines, and the effects of such individual parameters as the nutrient supply on the course of the disease.
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