Critical periods of the main vine diseases in two areas of the central valley of Tarija, Bolivia

Abstract

The central valley of Tarija is the main wine producing area of Bolivia. One of the main problems affecting small winegrowers in this region are the plagues and diseases that attack their vineyards. In order to preserve the health of their crops, most winegrowers are forced to perform several phytosanitary treatments, which represents several disadvantages that are reflected in high production costs, risks in production and human health, as well as the deterioration of the environment. The main diseases affecting the vineyards of the central valley of Tarija are mildew, oidium and botrytis. The aim of this work was to determine the most susceptible periods of the vine vegetative cycle to the attack of these diseases, in order to obtain information that could be used to develop control strategies. The study was carried out from field observations, to forty-five vineyards located in two traditional areas of vine production in Tarija's central valley: Calamuchita and La Choza. The main results reveal that symptoms of the three diseases evaluated were observed in the grapevine bunches. Only mildew was observed in the leaves of the vineyards. It was possible to determine differences between areas in relation to the attack of the diseases. The most important disease was grapevine mildew because it presented attacks on leaves, bunches and the longest period of attack during the vegetative cycle of the crop.