Preventive strategies to control postharvest diseases of stone fruit and reduce fresh fruit waste

Stone fruits can undergo to relevant postharvest losses caused by brown rot, that can develop in the field and more frequently during storage and commercialization, and finally at consumers home. Brown rot cause direct losses due to the infection of a single fruit or of the same box, and indirect losses for diverting consumer to buy again the same produce. Project “ZeroSprechi” aims to improve the production of stone fruits and manage postharvest quality, extending shelf life and reducing the waste of fresh fruit (as also planned within the Spanish O.G. “Fruit-Net - control of Monilinia spp. in stone fruits”). This project plan the application of decision supporting systems to optimise and reduce the number of fungicide applications, developing differentiated strategies for integrated agriculture and organic agriculture. Monilinia latent infections will be monitored, and prevailing species of Monilinia will be isolated, tested for sensitivity to the main fungicides used for their management, and the interactions with Drosophila spp. flyes will be investigated. The project will be developed in three farms two in “Valdaso” valley and one in “Valle del Foglia” valley, that are the two main producing areas of the Marche region. Results will be disseminated by ASSAM, grower association “Valle del Foglia”, involved farms, Agricolae, and Marche Polytechnic University. The “ZeroSprechi” proiect will lead to an increased sustainability of stone fruit production in Marche region, both for integrated and organic agriculture, with increase of grower income and reduction of fungicide applications, with sustainable strategies for brown rot management that can be extended to other Italian and European fruit production areas.