Effect of Colletotrichum coccodes on potato yield, tuber quality, and stem colonization during spring and autumn

The response of five potato cultivars to Colletotrichum coccodes was tested in artificially inoculated fields for three consecutive spring and autumn seasons during 1994 to 1996. Significant yield reductions (22 to 30%) were observed in all tested cultivars. Results varied between years, but yield losses were more severe in autumn than in spring. Stem infections of plants were observed 90 days after planting on the surface of the stem and in vascular tissue. C. coccodes inoculation also resulted in reduction of the quality of daughter tubers. Cultivars Cara and Nicola were found to be less susceptible to tuber infection than Alpha, Desiree, and Agria. The incidence of diseased daughter tubers was higher when the soil was infested than when the foliage was inoculated. C. coccodes contamination of dry stems at harvest (in inoculated plots) was relatively high in all cultivars, with no difference between inoculation methods. Thus, C. coccodes infection not only affects potato yield and the quality of potatoes for seed and consumption, but also contaminates soil and serves as an important source of inoculum for future potato crops.