F.O. Obanor, M. Walter, E.E. Jones and M.V. Jaspers | View Article
Incidence (% infected leaves) and severity (number of lesions/leaf) of olive leaf spot disease, caused by Spilocaea oleagina, were assessed every 2 weeks on 20 trees in a Canterbury olive grove for 12 weeks during summer 2003/04. All the trees were infected by olive leaf spot disease (OLS) and although disease incidence and severity varied between trees (P<0.001), it did not vary between branches over time (P=0.088). There was a strong correlation (R2=0.869) between disease incidence and severity. It was estimated that at least fi ve trees and 50 leaves/tree were required to correctly estimate the mean values of the parameters measured. Throughout the duration of the experiment, no new leaf lesions formed and although old lesions increased in size (P<0.001), spore numbers decreased from 5×104 to 1×102 conidia/cm2 of lesion and viability of conidia declined from 55 to 10%.
Sources of Variation in a Field Evaluation of Olive Leaf Spot
