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Use of a Plastic Rain Shield Reduces Fruit Decay and Need for Fungicides in Sweet Cherry

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It has been shown previously that covering sweet cherry trees (Prunus avium L.) with rain shields made of polyethylene or other waterproof, light-transmitting material prior to harvest to prevent fruit cracking will reduce fruit decay by various fungi. In the present work, the effects of extending the covering period on fruit decay, fruit quality, and the potential reduction in number of fungicide applications were investigated. In six of eight trials, there were significant reductions in fruit decay in covered fruit compared with fruit that were not covered. The most prevalent fruit-decaying fungi were Monilinia laxa and Botrytis cinerea. Mucor piriformis and Colletotrichum gloeosporioides occurred in high amounts in one trial each. The treatments included covering during rain periods until harvest was over from (i) bloom (bloom-cover), (ii) 6 to 7 weeks prior to harvest (early-fruit-cover), (iii) 3 to 4 weeks prior to harvest (late-fruit-cover), and (iv) not covered. In two trials, the number of fungicide applications was similar between different covering times (bloom-cover not included), and in one trial no fungicides were applied at all (all treatments included). There was a significant effect of covering on fruit decay in all three trials, but there was no difference between covering 6 to 7 and 3 to 4 weeks prior to harvest. In the sprayed fields, the incidence of decay was 48% in fruit that were not covered compared with from 6 to 11% in covered fruit. In the unsprayed field, covering from bloom resulted in 14% fruit decay compared with 23 to 26% in the other two cover treatments. In five trials, all covering regimes were included, and the number of fungicide applications varied with time of covering. The number of fungicide applications for the different treatments were: bloom-cover, 0; early-fruit-cover, 1 to 4; late-fruit-cover, 2 to 5; uncovered, 3 to 6. The mean incidence of fruit decay at harvest for the five trials (range in parentheses) was 3.4 (2.0 to 4.3), 1.8 (0.4 to 4.0), 3.8 (1.8 to 7.7), and 16.5% (2.5 to 39.7), respectively, for the covering times listed. There were no significant differences in decay after storage (3 to 7 days at 4degreesC followed by 2 to 4 days at 20degreesC) among the different covering times in the six experiments where fruit were stored. The results indicate that fungicide applications were not needed if fruit were covered during rainy periods from bloom until the end of harvest, and it was possible to omit I fungicide application if the covering period was increased from 3 to 4 weeks to 6 to 7 weeks. The fruit quality was not reduced by increasing the covering period from the normal 3 to 4 weeks in any of the experiments.
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... Therefore, rain shelter application became an effective means to avoid sweet cherry fruit cracking and rot in areas with frequent precipitation (Blanke & Balmer, 2008;Sotiropoulos et al., 2014). In addition, rain shelter cultivation may effectively protect trees from attack by infectious diseases (Børve & Stensvand, 2007), thereby improving the quality, yield, and commercial value of the fruit. According to previous research, covering shelters can also reduce fruit quality during ripening on tree when trees are exposed to an excessive heat before or during bloom leading to floral malformations. ...
... Differences in cultivation methods and varieties will affect the fruit quality of sweet cherries. According to Børve and Stensvand (2007), the skin color of uncovered sweet cherry fruits was brighter but less red than that the fruit under cover shields. In addition, Zadravec et al. (2009) found that the color parameter L* was significantly increased but the a* and b* values were significantly reduced by covering sweet cherry 'Hedelfinger'. ...
... In addition, the fruits can maintain a higher TSS content during storage. Research by Børve and Stensvand (2007) found that the sugar content (soluble solids) of sweet cherry fruits covered by rain shields was significantly higher (p = .01) than that of uncovered fruits in the Sekse 98 orchard, which was similar to our results. ...
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This study investigated the effects of different shelter coverings (arched-shelter and umbrella-shelter) on the volatile components of sweet cherry mature fruits in rainy areas, and the postharvest quality of these fruits during storage at room temperature. A total of 68 volatile compounds were identified and semiquantified in mature fruits. Aldehyde compounds were the most abundant, followed by alcohols. Benzyl alcohol, acetaldehyde, 2-methyl-propanal, hexanal, (E)-2-hexenal and benzaldehyde were the major volatiles, and the proportions of these compounds were greatly affected by different shelter coverings. With the extension of the storage period, the color parameters (L*, a* and b*), texture parameters (hardness, springiness, chewiness, resilience, skin strength and flesh firmness) and titratable acidity of the fruit rapidly decreased. The total soluble solid content and weight loss of the fruit gradually increased. Principal component analysis indicated that the sweet cherry fruits from the arched-shelter had the best quality and the longest shelf life.
... In some perennial crops, rain shelter systems have shown great effectiveness in reducing the incidence of many fungal diseases whose development requires a certain period of wetting in trees. For example, in Norway, Borve and Stensvand [11] showed that the installation of transparent rain shelters on cherry trees during rainy periods from flowering to harvest made it possible to avoid fungicide protection while producing a relatively healthy harvest. In fact, covered trees presented on average only 3.4% of rotten cherries, mainly due to Monilinia laxa and Botrytis cinerea (Pers.). ...
... In fact, covered trees presented on average only 3.4% of rotten cherries, mainly due to Monilinia laxa and Botrytis cinerea (Pers.). In contrast, unprotected trees received between three and six fungicide treatments from flowering to harvest and averaged 16.5% of rotten cherries [11]. In France, the rain shelters offered by Filpack ® were evaluated from 2010 to 2015 on Braeburn and Gala apple varieties. ...
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Blossom and twig blight, caused by Monilinia spp., is the main disease in apricot trees. In this study, we installed transparent rain shelters in apricot orchards to study their influence on the modification of the microclimate at the level of the tree canopy and on the reduction in moniliosis damage in twigs. Rain shelters significantly reduced the leaf wetness time measured within the foliage compared to the unsheltered trees (a reduction of between 43% and 67%). However, very few differences were observed in the daily averaged air temperature (up to 6%) and daily averaged air relative humidity (up to 1%). In the first experiment, on the apricot variety Bergarouge® (CEP Innovation, Lyon, France), moniliosis damage on twigs in the absence of phytosanitary protection was reduced by up to 62% for the trees provided with rain protection compared to the trees that did not receive rain shelters. A second experiment, involving five apricot tree varieties, made it possible to verify that fungicide protection could be reduced for the trees protected by rain covers, reducing moniliosis damage on twigs compared to full fungicide protection combined without rain protection. Finally, a third experiment comprising two apricot tree varieties has shown that in organic orchards, rain protection provides protection against moniliosis (twig blight) that is equivalent to an organic farming fungicide protection programme based on the use of copper sulphate and calcium polysulphide.
... As temperature and relative humidity (RH) can increase under these covers, there is a higher risk of disease incidence, and thus ventilation is required to prevent damage to the leaves and fruit, decreased fruit color, and fruit softening (Simon, 2006;Lang et al., 2011;Bastías et al., 2017;Bastías and Leyton, 2018). Nevertheless, other studies indicate that covers also reduce the need for fungicides during the rainy periods from flowering to the end of harvest (Børve and Stensvand, 2003). Greenhouse cultivation is a more recent practice in cherry orchards, which allows the creation of more favorable conditions for plant growth by artificially controlling air temperature and RH to extend growing seasons and improve yields (Perrin et al., 2014). ...
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Climate change is increasing sweet cherry (Prunus avium (L.) L.) production under cover systems such as high tunnels, rain covers, and nets. The objective of this review was to provide an overview of the environmental factors and physiological responses involved in cherry production under different types of protective covering systems. The most important environmental factors affected by cover systems are photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed, which in turn affect leaf gas exchange, plant water relations, tree growth, flower development, and fruit quality. The use of covering systems has a positive effect on photosynthesis by increasing the amount of diffused PAR, but a negative effect on the reproductive-vegetative tree balance due to lower total PAR availability. Increases in air temperature by cover systems alter differentially flowering and fruit set, impacting positively the ripening time and cell division of the fruits. Plant water status is improved under cover systems, allowing for greater tolerance to water deficit as well as improved potential fruit cell expansion, with an ensuing positive effect on fruit size, but decreasing fruit firmness due to lower Ca availability fruits. The multiple environmental factors and physiological responses observed in cherry production under cover systems suggest the need to adjust agronomic practices such as pruning, crop load regulation, irrigation, and nutrition according to these specific conditions.
... Par exemple, en Norvège, l'installation trois à quatre semaines avant la récolte de couvertures anti-pluie est devenue une pratique courante chez les producteurs de cerises pour limiter l'éclatement des fruits. L'installation de telles couvertures durant les périodes pluvieuses de la floraison à la récolte permet, en outre, de supprimer la protection fongicide et d'obtenir une récolte saine (peu de fruits pourris par monilioses) (Borve et Stensvand, 2003). Plus récemment en France, des bâches anti-pluie associées à des filets anti-grêle ont été utilisées sur pommiers. ...
... В регионах с влажным и тёплым климатом, где часто наблюдаются сильные дожди, рекомендуют укрывать деревья в период от цветения до сбора урожая различными плёнками, как, напр., в Норвегии для защиты деревьев черешни от M. laxa и других возбудителей гнили плодов. Использование этого метода значительно уменьшило встречаемость болезни и сделало ненужным применение фунгицидов (Børve, Stensvand, 2003). ...
Book
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... Species in Mucor are ubiquitous in nature, especially soils, and predominantly found as saprotrophs or endophytes [72]. They are predominantly associated with humans as pathogens [73], but have also been reported to be harmful in plants such as Mucor piriformis, causing rot in field and post-harvest on cherries [74]. Other MOTUs that were found in lower abundances, such as Rhizopus, are known to cause rots in other crop, such as grapes, while Rhizopus stolonifer has been linked to the seed of sorghum [75]. ...
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... Sweet cherry losses in storage caused by Monilinia sp. can be higher than losses during vegetation period (BØRVE & al [15]). Also, LARENA & et al [16] stated that peach losses caused by Monilinia sp. ...
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