Association of apple powdery mildew (Podosphaera leucotricha) and anthracnose (Neofabraea malicorticis) epidemics with environmental factors and agronomic practices in Chencha highlands, southern Ethiopia

Arato, Asnake Abera; Mengesha, Getachew Gudero; Biress, Zemenu Fentahun; Borano, Biniam Boraysho

doi:10.1186/s42483-024-00303-3

Table 1 Intensity (mean ± SE) and relative importance of powdery mildew and anthracnose of apple for different independent variables in Chencha district of Gamo zone, southern Ethiopia, during the 2021 and 2022 production years

From: Association of apple powdery mildew (Podosphaera leucotricha) and anthracnose (Neofabraea malicorticis) epidemics with environmental factors and agronomic practices in Chencha highlands, southern Ethiopia

Variable	Variable class	Powdery mildew severity (%)	Anthracnose severity (%)
Altitude^a	< 2700	20.85 ± 1.29	18.94 ± 1.83
Altitude^a	≥ 2700	28.58 ± 1.48	26.58 ± 1.81
Year	2021	23.56 ± 1.54	22.39 ± 1.96
Year	2022	28.89 ± 1.62	26.11 ± 1.99
Survey site	Farmers field	26.31 ± 1.16	24.86 ± 1.40
Survey site	State farm	22.94 ± 2.87	0.00 ± 0.00
Age of tree	≤ 5 years	19.17 ± 2.84	10.05 ± 5.97
	5 – 10 years	24.59 ± 3.52	18.89 ± 2.86
	10 – 15 years	22.69 ± 1.83	21.33 ± 2.65
	> 15 years	28.64 ± 1.57	27.38 ± 1.88
Source of planting material	Non-government	26.95 ± 1.21	24.49 ± 1.51
Source of planting material	Bureau of Agriculture	19.51 ± 2.54	22.06 ± 3.38
Growth stage	Fruit development	21.81 ± 1.44	20.39 ± 1.64
	Fruit maturity	30.28 ± 1.74	26.22 ± 2.36
	Flowering	34.90 ± 4.17	42.95 ± 4.36
Cropping system^b	Mono cropped	35.16 ± 2.24	35.96 ± 2.94
	Mixed with Enset	31.15 ± 2.28	32.10 ± 4.55
	Mixed with Horticulture	20.26 ± 1.54	17.95 ± 1.40
	Mixed with Cereals	27.68 ± 2.57	17.10 ± 3.19
	Mixed with Legume	16.62 ± 2.93	12.59 ± 3.88
Apple tree management	Earthen up + compost 1 × /year	36.71 ± 1.24	30.46 ± 2.11
Apple tree management	Earthen up + compost 2 × /year	16.24 ± 1.04	18.34 ± 1.62
Precipitation (mm)	≥ 1000	23.66 ± 1.15	21.38 ± 1.31
Precipitation (mm)	< 1000	40.49 ± 2.22	40.19 ± 4.49
Relative humidity (%)^c	< 90	24.34 ± 1.14	21.05 ± 1.29
Relative humidity (%)^c	≥ 90	37.21 ± 3.13	42.93 ± 4.23
Temperature (°C)^d	< 22	22.77 ± 1.11	19.91 ± 1.24
Temperature (°C)^d	≥ 22	38.51 ± 2.41	39.68 ± 3.62
Disease status^e	High	35.78 ± 2.32	47.38 ± 1.71
	Medium	23.43 ± 1.38	24.64 ± 1.08
	Low	23.22 ± 2.12	6.80 ± 1.48
Disease management	Pruning + sanitation	12.51 ± 1.31	17.44 ± 1.78
	Sanitation (no pruning)	25.91 ± 1.39	25.08 ± 2.94
	No management	36.92 ± 1.37	28.92 ± 2.28
Weed management^f	Good	24.75 ± 1.37	21.13 ± 1.67
	Intermediate	28.50 ± 2.30	28.61 ± 2.69
	Poor	31.10 ± 3.73	35.47 ± 4.31
Yield (t/ha)	≤ 15	46.87 ± 1.75	52.22 ± 1.76
	15 – 20	33.68 ± 1.33	33.99 ± 1.97
	20 – 25	25.75 ± 2.09	15.09 ± 2.38
	> 25	14.21 ± 1.07	13.28 ± 1.25

^aAreas of 2300–2700 and ≥ 2700 m.a.s.l are classified as high land and extremely highland, respectively, in Ethiopia
^bMono-cropping indicates planting apple varieties only; mixed with enset is apple varieties planted with enset; mixed with horticulture is apple varieties planted with potato, cabbage, spices, aromatic herbs, onion, shallot, garlic, and carrot; mix cropped with cereals is apple varieties planted with wheat, barley, and triticale; and mix cropped with legume is apple varieties planted with fava bean, field pea, and common bean
^cRelative humidity (%) < 90 and ≥ 90 is the percentage of relative humidity below and above optimum respectively
^dTemrature (°C) < 22 and ≥ 22 indicates less than and greater than the optimum temperature of both diseases (Xu and Butt 1998; Xu 2021) respectively
^eHigh, medium, and low disease status indicate high, medium, and low disease infection in whole observation of orchard respectively
^fWeed management was recorded as good, intermediate, and poor, referring to weed free, few weeds, and no weeding respectively

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