New strategies to control brown rot caused by Monilinia spp. of stone fruit

The importance of brown rot caused by Monilinia spp. in all stone fruit growing areas is well recognized. The infection occurs in the field but the most dangerous fruit losses happen during storage and commercialization. The disease control depends mainly on integrated strategy based on cultural practices and fungicide spray programmes in the field. Among cultural practices, the sanitization of orchard by minimizing inoculum potential, reducing the risk of blossom and fruit infections is essential for brown rot management. However, the requirements in sustainable agriculture, integrated crop management and organic production are increased in the last few decades, resulting in the need to develop other methods than fungicide applications to disease control. Several studies focused on alternative strategies, defining three different approaches: i) biological control with microbial antagonists, ii) use of natural products and iii) use of physico-chemical methods. Significant progress has been achieved in the reduction of pesticide use with these methods; although a multidisciplinary methodology that integrates sanitary and alternative strategies has to be investigated more fully. The new strategy, starting from the field with agronomic interventions and the selection of cultivars tolerant to Monilinia spp. could be usefully integrated by postharvest treatments based on low risk chemical fungicides, natural antimicrobial substances and other physical means determining a sustainable approach to brown rot control.