Adjusting sprinkler angle reduces spread of disease in pistachio
California Agriculture 47(5):16-20. DOI: 10.3733/ca.v047n05p16.
T. J. Michailides is Associate Plant Pathologist, Department of
Plant Pathology, UC Davis, located at the Kearney Agricultural
Center, Purlieu; D. P. Morgan is Staff Research Associate III,
Department of Plant Pathology, UC Davis, located at the Kearney
Agricultural Center, Purlieu; W. H. Olson is Farm Advisor, Butte
County; J. A. Grant is Farm Advisor, Sun Joaquin County; During
summer, especially in pistachio orchards irrigated with high-
trajectory-angle sprinklers, sprinkler water spreads fungal
inocula of Botryosphaeria blight disease to fruit clusters,
shoots and leaves. In tests, altering the sprinkler irrigation
trajectory angle from 23° to 12° prevented release and spread of
spore inoculum and significantly reduced the disease in three
commercial pistachio orchards in the Sacramento and San Joaquin
valleys. Experiment to determine spore release and dispersal of
Botryosphaeri