<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

Vineyards, covering over seven million hectares worldwide, hold significant socio-cultural importance. Traditionally reliant on conventional practices and agrochemicals, this agroecosystem faces environmental challenges, including soil and water pollution. Sustainable viticulture, driven by eco-friendly practices and cost reduction, has gained prominence, underlining the importance of biological control agents such as entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs). EPNs naturally occurr in vineyard soils and play a crucial role in controlling pest damage. Ensuring compatibility between EPNs and the commonly used vineyard fungicides is critical, as these applications constitute the predominant pest-management practice during the productive grapevine cycle.
This study assessed the impact of authorized grapevine fungicides on EPNs, focusing on the survival of populations and sublethal effects on their virulence. We investigated the compatibility of two EPN populations (<italic>Steinernema feltiae</italic> 107 and <italic>S. carpocapsae</italic> ‘All’) with three organic production-approved products (<italic>Bacillus pumilus</italic>, sulfur, and copper oxychloride) and two synthetic chemicals (Trifloxystrobin and Mancozeb). Our findings revealed that the viability of <italic>S. feltiae</italic> 107 was reduced when exposed to sulfur and copper oxychloride, and its virulence was affected by copper oxychloride and Mancozeb, although only two days after exposure and with no significant differences for larval mortality at five days.
In contrast, <italic>S. carpocapsae</italic> ‘All’ exhibited full compatibility with all five fungicides, with no impact on its viability or virulence. Consequently, our results suggested that the evaluated fungicides could be co-applied on both EPN populations if they were employed on the same day. However, further research on multi-target interactions is needed to ensure the successful implementation of this kind of co-application.
</abstract>

Vineyards, covering over seven million hectares worldwide, hold significant socio-cultural importance. Traditionally reliant on conventional practices and agrochemicals, this agroecosystem faces environmental challenges, including soil and water pollution. Sustainable viticulture, driven by eco-friendly practices and cost reduction, has gained prominence, underlining the importance of biological control agents such as entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs). EPNs naturally occurr in vineyard soils and play a crucial role in controlling pest damage. Ensuring compatibility between EPNs and the commonly used vineyard fungicides is critical, as these applications constitute the predominant pest-management practice during the productive grapevine cycle.
This study assessed the impact of authorized grapevine fungicides on EPNs, focusing on the survival of populations and sublethal effects on their virulence. We investigated the compatibility of two EPN populations (Steinernema feltiae 107 and S. carpocapsae ‘All’) with three organic production-approved products (Bacillus pumilus, sulfur, and copper oxychloride) and two synthetic chemicals (Trifloxystrobin and Mancozeb). Our findings revealed that the viability of S. feltiae 107 was reduced when exposed to sulfur and copper oxychloride, and its virulence was affected by copper oxychloride and Mancozeb, although only two days after exposure and with no significant differences for larval mortality at five days.
In contrast, S. carpocapsae ‘All’ exhibited full compatibility with all five fungicides, with no impact on its viability or virulence. Consequently, our results suggested that the evaluated fungicides could be co-applied on both EPN populations if they were employed on the same day. However, further research on multi-target interactions is needed to ensure the successful implementation of this kind of co-application.

Entomopathogenic Nematode Compatibility with Vineyard Fungicides

Servicio de Investigación Agraria y Sanidad Vegetal

Journal of Nematology

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

{"article-title":"Entomopathogenic Nematode Compatibility with Vineyard Fungicides"}

Vineyards, covering over seven million hectares worldwide, hold significant socio-cultural importance. Traditionally reliant on conventional practices and...

Entomopathogenic Nematode Compatibility with Vineyard Fungicides

Article Category: Research Paper

Published Online: Nov 23, 2023

Page range: -

Received: Sep 19, 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jofnem-2023-0057

Keywords
agrochemicals, grapevine, virulence, biological control

© 2023 Raquel Campos-Herrera et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Entomopathogenic Nematode Compatibility with Vineyard Fungicides

Article Category: Research Paper

Published Online: Nov 23, 2023

Page range: -

Received: Sep 19, 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jofnem-2023-0057

Keywordsagrochemicals, grapevine, virulence, biological control

© 2023 Raquel Campos-Herrera et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Keywords
agrochemicals, grapevine, virulence, biological control