Efficacy of compost, chemical inducers and fungicides individually or in combination for managing
tomato white mold caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (Lib.) de Bary under greenhouse and field
conditions was studied. Results indicated that all treatments significantly reduced disease incidence and
severity of tomato white mold disease comparing with untreated control. Moreover, the integrated SA and
FeSO4 with compost recorded the highest increase of fresh weight and dry weight of shoots and roots
compared with the individual treatments and control. The integrated SA with compost was the highest
effective treatment where it reduced disease incidence and disease severity to be 11.1 and 5.20%
comparing with control treatment which recorded 100 and 77.4% respectively under greenhouse
conditions. Under field conditions, adding compost to the soil pre-transplanting decreased the percentage
of infection and increased yield of tomato plants compared with un-amended treatments with compost. In
this respect, the integration between Billis and compost was the most effective treatment where it reduced
effectively the disease incidence and disease severity (88.24 and 92.37%) respectively. As well as, it
increased fruit weight per plant by 154.76%. It could be concluded from the obtained results that the
combination between compost, chemical inducers and fungicides might be useful as a good tool for
controlling tomato white mold disease caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum under greenhouse and field
conditions. |
