Brown rot is the most important disease in peach tree cultivation, but field studies with control methods are currently rare in Brazil. One of the objectives of this study was to select fungicides in the laboratory then test them in the field, additionally to phosphites, for the control of the brown rot. The control was performed by observing the fruit development phase and by postharvest monitoring. Another objective was to assess the qualitative characteristics of the fruit. The field experiment was carried out with six treatments and four replications: three in vitro pre-selected fungicides (iminoctadine tris albesilate, myclobutanil and iprodione), two phosphites (CaB and K) and the control. Latent infections in developing and postharvest fruits were assessed in regard to the incidence of Monilinia fructicola. For the developing fruits it was observed higher incidence during the two last assessments. In the field, iprodione and iminoctadine showed efficient control of the disease during the assessments. After three days in the environment, the iminoctadine was better than the other treatments, keeping the incidence of brown rot to 1.02% as against 31.4% for iprodione and 91.2% for the control. Phosphite-CaB showed no difference in relation to the control as the assessments proceeded, but phosphate-K reduced the number of diseased fruits over three and five days by 60% and 28%, respectively, in relation to the control. In regard to quality parameters, there was no significant difference in the average fruit weight, diameter and pulp firmness in relation to the control.
Monilinia fructicola; peach; chemical control; latent infection
