A decay of kiwifruit was noted for the first time in 9 to 10-year-old Italian vineyards. Trunk and cordons of symptomatic vines showed decayed areas surrou

In Mediterranean environments the adoption of Conservation Agriculture (CA) would allow growers to achieve environmental, agronomic and economic sustainability. We investigated the effect of different combination of crop establishment treatments and crop sequence (conventional tillage (CT) and durum wheat monocropping (WW); conventional tillage (CT) and durum wheat following faba beans (WF); zero tillage (ZT) and durum wheat monocropping (WW); zero tillage (ZF) and durum wheat following faba beans (WF) on yield, grain quality traits as well as on disease incidence and severity in durum wheat (var. Saragolla). The results of two years of data of a long-term experiment (seven-year experiment; split-plot design) are discussed. The CA approach (ZT + WF), which always induced the highest grain yields (6.1 t ha⁻¹ and 3.3 t ha⁻¹ in 2016 and 2017) thanks to an increased number of spikes m⁻² (296 vs. 269 and 303 vs. 287 spikes m⁻² in 2016 and 2017, respectively) as well as a more pronounced ear length, demonstrated significantly positive influences in terms of grain quality. It promoted grain protein accumulation (12.1% for ZT + WF vs. 11.4% for ZT + WW and 12.4% for ZT + WF vs. 10.6% for ZT + WW in 2016 and 2017) and improved the gluten quality (in terms of sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) sedimentation test) and colour of the grain. The abundance of crop residues determined a higher incidence and severity of Zymoseptoria tritici leaf symptoms under the CA system; nevertheless, the late appearance of infection was the main reason for not affecting yield and quality traits. The presence of faba beans (WF) in the rotation significantly reduced leaf symptoms in Z. tritici.

Kiwifruit vines (Actinidia deliciosa var. deliciosa) have recently been affected by a new form of decay caused by several fungi that produce different types of wood deterioration in the trunk and cordons. Surveys were conducted over a period of 5 years to investigate epidemiological aspects of the disease in a typical Italian growing area (Emilia-Romagna), where kiwifruit is widely cultivated and where the disease was noted for the first time. The disease was widespread over the kiwifruit growing area surveyed, and its incidence increased over the course of the survey. No relationship was found between vineyard soil characteristics or management methods and the annual incidence of symptomatic vines. Foliar symptoms did not consistently express every season even on obviously infected vines. The time of appearance and the development of the disease were correlated with plant phenology and temperature. In particular, from June to August, temperature seemed to affect the annual incidence of the disease in terms of both symptomatic shoots and symptomatic vines. The aspects in common between the decay of kiwifruit and esca of grapevine could be hypothesized and are discussed.

A previously undescribed form of wood decay of kiwifruit ( Actinidia deliciosa (A. Chev.) C. F. Liang et A. R. Ferguson) plants was observed in 8–10‐year‐old Emilia Romagna orchards in north‐central Italy. Symptoms appear as unspecific interveinal chlorosis of the leaf, which later may become necrotic resulting in premature leaf drop. Fruits never grow as large as on healthy plants nor do they reach full maturity. This foliage chlorosis occurred on current season's shoots developing from canes growing horizontally from the cordon. Cross‐sections of the wood show white rot areas surrounded by brown necrosis of hard consistency, preceding the white rot in the colonisation of the wood. Isolations from the zone of hard consistency onto Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) medium yielded Phaeoacremonium aleophilum, P. inflatipes, P. chlamydosporum, P. rubrigenum , and to a lesser extent, Phialophora sp., whereas Phellinus conchatus was commonly isolated from white rot diseased tissue. Although pathogenicity studies on host plants are still being carried out, a strong similarity with esca disease of grapevine could clearly be noticed.

Esca of grapevine causes yield losses correlated with incidence and severity symptom expression. Factors associated with leaf symptom mechanisms are yet to be fully clarified. Therefore, in 2019 and 2020, macro and microelement analyses and leaf reflectance measurements were carried out on leaves at different growth stages in a vineyard located in Abruzzo, central Italy. Surveys were carried out on leaves of both never leaf-symptomatic vines and different categories of diseased vine shoots. Never leaf-symptomatic and diseased vines were also treated with a fertilizer mixture that proved to be able to limit the symptom expression. Results showed that untreated asymptomatic diseased vines had high calcium contents for most of the vegetative season. On the contrary, treated asymptomatic diseased vines showed higher contents of calcium, magnesium, and sodium, at berries pea-sized, before the onset of symptoms. These vines had better physiological efficiency showing higher water index (WI), normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and green normalized difference vegetation index (GNDVI) values, compared to untreated asymptomatic vines, at fruit set. Results confirmed the strong response of the plant to symptom expression development and the possibility of limiting this response with calcium and magnesium applications carried out before the symptom onset.