Replant Diseases of Apple in the Netherlands
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634.11:632.2+632.651(492) MEDEDELINGEN LANDBOUWHOGESCHOOL WAGENINGEN • NEDERLAND • 68-13(1968 ) REPLANT DISEASES OF APPLE IN THE NETHERLANDS (Samenvatting: Herbeplantingsziekten bijappel in Nederland) H. HOESTRA Department of Nematology Agricultural University, Wageningen, The Netherlands Guestworker of TNO, The Hague (Received 25-VII-1968) H.VEENMA N & ZONEN N.V. - WAGENINGEN - 1968 CONTENTS 1. GENERAL 1 1.1. Introduction 1 1.2. Applegrowin gi nth eNetherland s 1 1.3. Replant diseases,introductio n andterm s 3 1.4. Theoccurrenc eo fappl ereplan t diseasesi nth eNetherland s 4 1.4.1. Generalobservation s 4 1.4.2. Factorsinvolve d 5 1.5. Outlineo fth eresearc hprogramm e 6 1.6. Materialsan dmethod s 6 1.7. Abbreviations 9 2. THE ROLE OF NEMATODES 10 2.1. Introduction 10 2.2. Symptoms 10 2.3. Occurrenceo fplan t parasiticnematode s inappl eorchard san dnurserie s ... 11 2.4. Importanceo fnematode s 13 2.5. Discussionan dconclusion s 17 3. SPECIFIC APPLE REPLANT DISEASE, GENERAL ASPECTS 20 3.1. Symptomsan dcharacteristic s 20 3.2. Experimental demonstration 25 3.3. Experimentalcharacterization , effect of various treatments 28 3.3.1. Introduction 28 3.3.2. Depth ofoccurrenc ei nth esoi l 28 3.3.3. Leachatesfro m applesoil s 29 3.3.4. Nutrient solutionsfro m mistculture so fappl e 30 3.3.5. Appleroot s 30 3.3.6. Phloridzin 31 3.3.7. Mixingsoil s 31 3.3.8. Soilmoistur econten t 33 3.3.9. Soiltemperatur e 34 3.3.10. SoilpH 34 3.3.11. Gibberellicacid 37 3.3.12. Summary ofresult s 38 4. CONTROL OF SPECIFIC APPLE REPLANT DISEASE 39 4.1. Introduction 39 4.2. Exploratorypo texperimen t 39 4.3. Field experiments 45 4.3.1. Introduction 45 4.3.2. Provinceo fNort h Holland 45 4.3.3. Therive rcla yare a 48 4.3.4. NorthEas tPolde r 56 4.3.5. South-Westernpar t ofth eNetherland s 58 4.3.6. SouthLimbur g 59 4.3.7. Easternpar to fth eNetherland s 60 4.4. Greenhousepot experiment s 60 4.4.1. Introduction 60 4.4.2. Dichloropropene-dichloropropanemixtur e 61 4.4.3. Chloropicrin 62 4.4.4. Methylisothiocyanat e 62 4.4.5. Otherfumigant s 64 4.4.6. Various chemicals 64 4.4.7. Organicamendment s 67 4.4.8. Heat 67 4.5. Conclusions on sections 4.3. and 4.4 68 4.6. Development ofa nadvisor ymetho d 69 4.6.1. Introduction 69 4.6.2. Materialsan d methods 69 4.6.3. Growth onfres h and applesoil s 70 4.6.4. Evaluation oftechnique s 71 4.6.4.1. Timeo ftakin gmeasurement s 71 4.6.4.2. Testplant s 72 4.6.5. Comparisono fresult so fpo t testsan dfield experiment s 73 4.6.6. Discussion 76 4.7. Noteso nth eapplicatio n ofchloropicri ni npractic e 79 5. GENERAL DISCUSSION 83 5.1. Introduction 83 5.2. Possiblecause so fspecifi c applereplan t disease 83 5.2.1. Requirements 83 5.2.2. Poor soilstructur e 84 5.2.3. Nutrient deficiencies 85 5.2.4. Toxins 86 5.2.5. Organisms 88 5.3. Practical aspects 92 6. SUMMARY 94 7. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 96 8. SAMENVATTING 97 9. REFERENCES 99 1. GENERAL 1.1. INTRODUCTION In 1957 the Nederlandse Fruittelers Organisatie (Netherlands Fruitgrowers Organization), called the attention of the Plantenziektenkundige Dienst (Plant Protection Service), Wageningen, to the difficulties which fruit growers fre quently meet when replanting apple orchards. At that timei t was already known that nematodes can damage young apple trees. Therefore in 1957 Dr.Oosten- brink visited the Bangert area near Hoorn where such replant problems were common and took a series of soil and root samples. The observations made and the nematodes found did not allow a conclusion to be drawn about the cause (cf. MEIJNEKE, 1959). It became clear that the problem was complicated and that a special research programme would be necessary to solve it. The Nationale Raad voor Landbouwkundig Onderzoek, TNO, The Hague (National Council for Agricultural Research) provided funds for this work. In this way the basis was laid for aresearc h programme with emphasis on thepractica l aspects of the pro blem. The work was started at the Plantenziektenkundige Dienst (Plant Protec tion Service) on 1Jul y 1959 and continued at the Landbouwhogeschool (Agri cultural University) from 1 July 1962 onwards. 1.2. APPLE GROWING IN THE NETHERLANDS The history of modern fruit growing in this country started with the founda tion in 1898 of a national organization of fruit growers, the Nederlandse Fruit telers Organisatie. The area under apple and other fruit treesincrease d gradually and was extended rapidly between 1930 and 1945. Later on the area became stable and was even reduced in recent years mainly due to grubbing, not fol lowed by replanting, of many old orchards on mixed farms. Fruit growing became more and more restricted to specialized fruit farms. The total area under pome fruit (apple, pear) and stone fruit (cherry, plum) was 47,874 ha in 1966 of which apples occupied about 33,000 ha, pears 10,000 ha, cherries 2,500 ha and plums 2,000 ha. Apple is therefore by far the most important fruit tree in the Netherlands. The average yield was about 300,000 tons of fruit a year in the period 1959t o 1965. Table 1give s particulars of the importance of apple growing in the main fruit centres. Fig. 1illustrate s the situation with regard to new plantings of apple and the total apple area, in the period 1939 to 1966. The apple area has rapidly been modernized in recent years by replacement of old orchards by newly planted ones. In 1963 only 35% of the total apple area was planted with trees more than 21 years old, and 24% with trees more than 27 years old (RIJNIERSE and VAN VEEN, 1966). The oldest orchards often have standard trees. This system is no longer economic because of the varieties, the costs of tending the trees Meded. Landbouwhogeschool Wageningen 68-13 (1968) 1 TABLE 1. Data on the main fruit growing regions in the Netherlands (1966). Total areas planted to pome and stone fruit after VAN WELY (1967); data on the importance of applegrowin gprovide d byCBS ,Th eHague . Pome and stone Planted to Regions fruit (ha) apple (%) Main soil type River clay area 19,776 70 river clay South-Western part of the Netherlands 9,897 69 seacla y 'Bangert',nea rHoorn , province ofNort h Holland, and adjoining areas 1,549 57 seaclay ,ol d South Limburg 5,564 55 loess South-East, excluding South Limburg 3,929 74 mixed,mostl y lightsoil s North East Polder (informe r Zuyderzee) 1,075 92 loam APPLE AREA(HA) TOTAL »EARLY NEW PLANTINGS 45.000 - 10.000 - -^x, 35.000 - ,^ "--. (A) 30.000 - 3.000 / 2.500 20.000 - 2.000 (B) 1.500 /V A 1.000 /' \-—\ ^./' 500 / v—^ 1956 YEARS FIG. 1. Totalappl eare a(A) ,an dyearl yne wplanting s(B )i nth eNetherlands , 1939-1966. and the productivity. The same is true for the somewhat younger orchards of bushtrees . Most plantings of 15-20 years old and younger are composed of dwarf pyramids and similar types of trees, which are planted at smaller distances than standard and bush trees. There has also been a tendency to reduce plant ing distances with the dwarf pyramid system in recent years. Nowadays in most cases more than 1000 trees per ha are planted at distances between therow s of4-4. 5 man d in therow s of 1.5-3 m. Other systems arebein g tried, for instance the 'Groesbeek' system with 3 m between the rows and 1 m in the 2 Meded. Landbouwhogeschool Wageningen 68-13(1968) row. VERHEY and DE VRIES(1966 )propos e the growing of treesi n beds with seve ral rows of closely planted trees (for example 2 X 1.5 m) alternated with alley ways of2. 5 m. The main reason for this interest in intensive planting systems is the need for economic production of large quantities of high quality fruit per ha, with pro duction starting in the 2nd-3rd year after planting. The new systems not only favour high and early production, but also help to reduce costs of spraying, picking, and pruning. Most fruit farms are small: about 80% have less than 10 ha. This situation also favours the tendency towards intensive systems of fruit growing. As regards the problems arising with replanting the following aspects of apple growingi n the Netherlands are of special importance: 1. Fruit growing is now mostly restricted to specialized farms on which apple isb y far the most important crop. 2. In most fruit growing regions it is difficult or impossible to find fresh land for new plantings, because suitable soils on the farm and its surround ingsar e already under apple. 3. The economic life span of densily planted modern apple orchards does not exceed 20years . Therefore it iseviden t that replanting isa frequent procedure in apple growing in the Netherlands and willb e soi n the future. 1.3. REPLANT DISEASES, INTRODUCTION AND TERMS Problems in cultivating plants on sites where the same species has been grown before, have long been recognized (WORLIDGE, 1698). The causes of the difficulties met in maintaining monocultures vary widely. Factors such as deterioration of soil structure, erosion, chemical exhaustion, and accumulation of parasites, have led to the abandoning of important centres of single crops, such as is illustrated by the history of tobacco growing in West Virginia (CRAVEN, 1965).