Margherita Furiosi

• Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore

Plasmopara viticola, the grapevine downy mildew (DM) oomycete, overwinters as oospores in fallen leaves above the vineyard ground. The oospores repeatedly germinate in the following season, causing primary infections on the leaves and clusters. In the present study, the relationship between the numbers of P. viticola oospores in the leaf litter and...

Powdery mildew (PM) disease causes serious losses in Mediterranean vineyards, where suitable environmental conditions promote conidial infections. The frequency and intensity of these infections are directly linked to the amount of primary Erysiphe necator inoculum, i.e., the chasmothecia embedded in the trunk. In this study, we set up a protocol t...

Plant resistance inducers (PRIs) are promising alternatives to chemical fungicides. Their effectiveness against grapevine downy mildew (DM) has been demonstrated for leaves, yet research on berry clusters is limited. We investigated the efficacy of six PRIs on clusters of cv. Barbera and Merlot from the end of flowering (growth stage GS 69) to frui...

Currently, fungicides are widely used to control grapevine foliar diseases. This study explored the possibility of decreasing the use of fungicides to control these diseases using cover crops in the inter-row of vineyards. In small-scale experiments, we found that cover crops (namely horseradish Armoracia rusticana) were able to (i) reduce the numb...

The study of environmentally friendly active principles against downy mildew represents one of the main challenges in viticulture. In this context, the aim of the present trial was to investigate the efficacy of chitosan as a resistance elicitor against downy mildew and to study the metabolites involved in the interaction plant-chitosan-pathogen by...

The IPM WORKS IPM Resource Toolbox (Toolbox) has been developed as an interactive, online repository of integrated pest management (IPM) resources. Populated with high priority resources for farmers and their advisors during the project, its structure enables additional resources added over time. The repository is a public interactive website, avai...

The IPM WORKS IPM Resource Toolbox (Toolbox) has been developed as an interactive, online repository of integrated pest management (IPM) resources. Populated with high priority resources for farmers and their advisors during the project, its structure enables additional resources added over time. The repository is a public interactive website, avai...

The BIOVINE project has developed natural solutions based on plant diversity to control pests and reduce pesticide dependence. Application of polyculture cover crops in organic vineyards may possibly increase resistance to pests and invasive species. In this study aim was to develop innovative viticultural systems based on increased plant diversity...