The sensitivity of strawberry cultivars to major fungal foliar diseases in Croatia, and the possibilities for their control

In Croatia, strawberry production has been increasing steadily in recent years. The assortment of cultivars changes from year to year due to the introduction of new cultivars. The most popular cultivars currently in production are 'Elsanta', 'Marmolada', 'Maya', 'Madeleine', 'Miranda', 'Miss' and 'Raurica'. The aim of our research was to determine the sensitivity of these cultivars to major fungal foliar diseases in Croatia, namely: common leaf spot (Mycosphaerella fragariae), leaf scorch (Diplo-carpon earliana), leaf blotch (Gnomonia comari) and leaf blight (Phomopsis obscurans). In order to determine the possibilities of controlling these diseases, we conducted tests of fungicide efficacy on the most sensitive cultivars. The infection intensity of each disease was assessed according to the Townsend-Heuberg formula based on an analysis of 200 leaves and our own scale of 0-5, while the fungicide efficacy was determined by Abbott's formula. Among the cultivars; tested for common leaf spot, the most sensitive cultivar was 'Madeleine', followed by 'Marmolada', 'Maya' and 'Miss'. The other cultivars were relatively resistant to this disease. The cultivars most sensitive to leaf scorch were 'Miranda' and 'Raurica', while 'Marmoladal was somewhat less sensitive. Among the fungicides Folicur M and Euparen M were the most efficacious for all tested diseases, while Kidan SC and Quadris KS also had good efficacy. Based on the results we created a programme for control of foliar diseases.