Caracterização de solos da Região Agreste de Pernambuco quanto a supressividade à murcha-de-fusário do tomateiro

Abstract

Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) crop yield has been limited by Fusarium wilt occurrence in the State of Pernambuco, Brazil. This disease, caused by Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. lycopersici, drastically reduces the harvest period due to the early fruit fall. This work aimed to analyze the intensity of Fusarium wilt in tomato planted in 47 soil samples from the Agreste region of Pernambuco and to determine factors which could be related to either soil suppressivenes or conduciveness to this disease/pathogen. Bioassays were carried out using tomato (Santa Clara cv.) planted in artificially infested and non-infested soils, aiming to verify the existence of suppressive and conducive soils to the disease. In order to characterize factors which could be related to these phenomena, the samples were submitted to analysis for determination of field capacity, permanent wilting point, clay, silt and sand percentages (physical characteristics), macronutrients, microbialcarbon, carbon from organic matter and total nitrogen levels (chemical characteristics) and population levels of Fusarium oxysporum, Trichoderma spp., Bacillus spp. and Pseudomonas spp. of fluorescent group in the soils (microbiological characteristics). Then the influence of these factors upon each other as well as on the incidence of the disease was verified. Fusarium wilt was positively correlated (r = 0,32) to soil C/N ratio in the first bioassay, however the disease was negatively correlated (r = -0,35) to Ca level in the soil, for the second one, both artificially infested with the pathogen. CAF-1 and CAF-16 samples were considered suppresive, while CAF-2 and SAI-2 were conducive. Infested and non-infested bioassays were related to each other pointing out the occurrence of suppressiveness in the soils No significant correlations (P=0,05) between disease levelsand physical, chemical or microbiological soil characteristics were observed. Furtherstudies must be carried out to characterize soils suppressiveness and conduciveness to Fusarium wilt of tomato in the Agreste region, in order to effectivelly contribute for the development of an integrated disease management