ISHS Acta Horticulturae 455: V International Mango Symposium
MANGO DISEASE LOSSES: BALANCING ECONOMY AND ECOLOGY |
| Author: | G.I. Johnson |
| Keywords: | Dothiorella, Colletotrichum, stem end rot, biological control, fruit fly, endophyte) |
| Abstract:
The damage and losses caused by mango pathogens is unacceptable to orchardists, marketeers and consumers. But what is the evolutionary significance of the magnitude of the losses? In nature, and in terms of tree survival, the losses are not of major significance. Pathogen biology and disease ingress is influenced by host/ecosystem traits resulting from natural selection operating on an evolutionary time scale in regions to which Mangifera indica (and related spp.) was endemic. However, natural (loss-minimising) balances have also been compromised (and damage tolerance thresholds lowered) by the artefacts of orchard cultivation and exotic/depauperate ecosystems, as well as the demands of harvesting, transport and storage. What facets of host genome, environment and, micro and macroflora and fauna could be manipulated, improved or reassembled to adjust the balance, so that disease losses are minimal and product quality is maintained at the level dictated by commerce? What do we know about these factors? What more do we need to know? How can the information be exploited? How can Nature's gifts be resurrected, enhanced or supplemented? | |
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