Strawberry Growers Beware: There's a New Fusarium Strain on the Loose
Researchers first discovered the Fof race 2 strain at a Fusarium wilt-infected 'Ranch X' in Oxnard, CA. Photo by Peter Henry, USDA ARS Genetic resi...
Researchers first discovered the Fof race 2 strain at a Fusarium wilt-infected 'Ranch X' in Oxnard, CA. Photo by Peter Henry, USDA ARS Genetic resistance is vital to managing Fusarium wilt in the Watsonville/Salinas, CA, area. Resistant strawberry varieties, each carrying the same FW1 resistance gene, include ‘Portola', ‘Fronteras', ‘San Andreas', ‘Victor', and ‘Moxie'. 'From the last two years of surveys, we have found that Fusarium wilt is the most common disease on susceptible varieties, and it is not found on resistant varieties,' says Peter Henry, a Research Plant Pathologist with the Crop Improvement and Protection Research unit of USDA ARS .