ARTICLE IN PRESS

Crop Protection 27 (2008) 10711077

www.elsevier.com/locate/cropro

Application of fungicides to reduce yield loss in

anthracnose-infected lupins
G.J. Thomas, M.W. Sweetingham, K.G. Adcock
Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia, Locked Bag No. 4, Bentley Delivery Centre, WA 6983, Australia
Received 31 October 2007; received in revised form 19 December 2007; accepted 19 December 2007

Abstract

A range of fungicides were evaluated for control of anthracnose (Colletotrichum lupini) in lupin. Glasshouse investigation identied
fungicides that reduced disease severity with varying degrees of efcacy. When applied 1 d prior to infection, azoxystrobin,
chlorothalonil, mancozeb and copper oxychloride fungicides were highly effective. Systemic fungicides such as tebuconazole, benomyl
and carbendazim were less effective. Application timing was important; fungicides such as chlorothalonil and mancozeb were less
effective when applied 5 d prior to infection compared with 1 d prior. Application after infection was ineffective for all fungicides. In eld
experiments application of azoxystrobin, mancozeb or chlorothalonil during owering and podding reduced incidence of anthracnose
infection on pods. Yield responses occurred in moderately susceptible, moderately resistant or resistant cultivars. Seed infection was
reduced but not eradicated. Application of foliar fungicides for anthracnose control is potentially a viable management option for lupin
production in high anthracnose risk areas of Western Australia.
r 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Lupin; Lupinus angustifolius; Anthracnose; Colletotrichum lupini; Fungicide

1. Introduction management in lupin crops. However, internationally

Lupin anthracnose, caused by the fungus Colletotrichum
lupini, can signicantly reduce lupin grain yield under
favourable climatic conditions. Within Western Australia,
signicant crop damage has previously been reported
(Shea, 1999) particularly in the northern agricultural region
where lupins are an integral part of crop rotations and
seasonal rainfall and temperature conditions are most
favourable for the disease.
The disease is seed borne (Decker, 1947) and is spread
within crops by rain-splash of spores from lesions on
infected plants (Sweetingham et al., 1998). Management of
lupin anthracnose is based primarily on the use of
uninfected seed stocks, seed dressing fungicides and in
some lupin species, genetic resistance. At the time that this
experimental work was undertaken, foliar fungicides were
not registered or used commercially in Australia for disease
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: gthomas@agric.wa.gov.au (G.J. Thomas).
fungicides including tebuconazole, azoxystrobin, chlor-
othalonil, iprodione and carbendazim have been assessed
for the management of a range of lupin diseases including
brown spot, rust and anthracnose (Etheridge and Bateman,
1999; Horoszkiewicz-Janka et al., 2002; Romer et al.,
2000).
Under Western Australian conditions, even resistant
genotypes can suffer signicant yield losses from infection
occurring in ower and pod tissue (Thomas and Sweet-
ingham, 2004). These losses can occur despite the use of
recognised management techniques and are in part due to
the presence of large areas of anthracnose-susceptible
Lupinus cosentinii pastures that act as a regenerating
source of anthracnose inoculum. In these situations, the
application of foliar fungicide may be a valuable addition
to the integrated management of anthracnose.
This paper describes a series of glasshouse experiments
screening a range of systemic and protectant fungicides for
efcacy against lupin anthracnose. The most effective
fungicides were tested under eld conditions over 3 years,

0261-2194/$ - see front matter r 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.cropro.2007.12.012
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
1072 G.J. Thomas et al. / Crop Protection 27 (2008) 10711077
examining disease management and yield response. Field
experiments assessed the impact of environmental
conditions, application timing, cultivar resistance and
disease pressure on fungicide efcacy. The objective
of the study was to identify effective fungicides and
determine the viability of foliar fungicide application for
anthracnose management in lupins grown in Western
Australia.
2. Methods
2.1. Fungal isolate and inoculum production
The isolate used in all experiments was 96A4
(IMI375715) (Yang and Sweetingham, 1998), collected
from an Lupinus albus plant at Morawa, Western
Australia, in 1996 and stored in the Department of
Agriculture and Food Western Australia Plant Pathogen
Collection (WAC9624). Inoculum for spray inoculation of
seedlings was produced by streaking conidia of C. lupini
onto oatmeal agar (60 g l1 ground rolled oats and 20 g l1
agar) and incubating at 15 1C under 12 h light/dark cycle
for 1014 d. A spore suspension was prepared by ooding
oatmeal agar plates with sterile distilled water and agitating
the agar surface with a glass rod. The spore suspension was
diluted to the required concentration with the aid of a
haemocytometer.
2.2. Glasshouse assessment of fungicide efficacy
In four separate glasshouse experiments, Lupinus angu-
stifolius (cv. Belara) was sown (ve seeds per pot) into
washed coarse river sand in 140 mm pots in an air-
conditioned glasshouse (2072 1C). Experiments had four
replicate pots of each treatment arranged in a randomised
block design incorporating fungicide product and time of
application treatments.
Fungicide products and rates used in glasshouse experi-
ments were Amistar WGs (azoxystrobin 500 g kg1) at
500 g ha1, Melpat Coppox agricultural fungicide/bacter-
icides (copper oxychloride 500 g kg1) at 2 kg ha1,
Dithane M45s (mancozeb 800 g kg1) at 2 kg ha1, Folicur
430 SC fungicides (tebuconazole 430 g l1) at 250 ml ha1,
Bravo fungicides (chlorothalonil 720 g l1) at 1.5 l ha1,
Bavistin FL systemic fungicides (carbendazim 500 g l1) at
500 ml ha1, Rovral aquaow fungicides (iprodione
250 g l1) at 1 l ha1, Sumisclex 275 ocol liquid fungi-
cides (procymidone 275 g l1) at 1 l ha1, Benlate fungi-
cides (benomyl 500 g l1) at 500 ml ha1 and Alto 100SLs
(cyproconazole 100 g l1) at 1 l ha1.
Fungicides were applied in water (equivalent to
280 l ha1 water volume) without additional spray adju-
vants by a hand-held trigger sprayer. Fungicide treatments
were applied 1 and 5 d prior to anthracnose inoculation in
Experiments 1, 2 and 3, and at 1 and 4 d prior and 1 and 4 d
post-anthracnose inoculation in Experiment 4. Foliage of
treated plants was kept dry in the period between fungicide
application and anthracnose inoculation; pots were wa-
tered by application directly to the soil surface.
Anthracnose infection was initiated by spray inoculation
of plants to run-off with a C. lupini spore suspension
(105 spores ml1+0.1% Tween 20). Immediately after
inoculation, each pot was incubated in a separate rigid
plastic container to maintain leaf wetness and kept in
darkness for 24 h.
Ten days after inoculation, the most severe stem lesion
on each plant was scored using a 05 scale, where 0 no
visible disease symptoms; 1 distinct stem bending or pin-
point lesion less than 1 mm diameter; 2 small lesion less
than 5 mm diameter, no sporulation; 3 small lesion less
than 5 mm diameter with sporulation; 4 large lesion
girdling more than half the circumference of the stem with
abundant sporulation; 5 large lesion severing the stem.
2.3. Field assessment of fungicide efficacy
Field experiments were carried out at the Department of
Agriculture and Food Western Australia Research Station
at Badgingarra (301200 S, 1151300 E) in 2001 (Experiment 1),
2002 (Experiment 2) and 2003 (Experiment 3).
Cultivars used were Belara (moderately susceptible) in
Experiments 1 and 2, and Kalya (moderately resistant) and
Tanjil (resistant) in Experiment 3. To reduce effects of
brown spot (Pleiochaeta setosa) and minimise the possibi-
lity of seed-transmitted anthracnose, Rovral liquid seed
dressing fungicides (250 g l1 iprodione) at 1 ml kg1 seed
and Hannaford Thirao seed treatments (600 g l1 thiram)
at 1.7 ml kg1 seed were applied to all seeds. Experiments
were sown by machine into eld plots (25 m  1.54 m) to
achieve approximately 45 plants m2. Plots were separated
by a 2 m buffer to provide pathways for vehicle movement
and reduce the risk of spray drift between treatments.
Anthracnose inoculum was introduced in Experiments 1
and 2 as three anthracnose-infected L. albus (cv. Kiev
Mutant) seedlings transplanted into each plot 3 weeks after
sowing (Thomas and Sweetingham, 2004). In Experiment
3, two levels of disease pressure were achieved through
relying on natural infection from adjacent infected wild
L. cosentinii plants or augmenting this with transplanted
infected seedlings in high disease pressure plots.
Fungicides were applied using a motorbike-mounted 2 m
boom using at fan nozzles at a water rate of 200 l ha1 in
2001 and hand-held 2 m boom using at fan nozzles at a
water rate of 100 l ha1 in 2002 and 2003. Fungicides
products and rates used were Amistar WGs (azoxystrobin
500 g kg1) at 500 g ha1 (Experiments 1 and 2), Dithane
M45s (mancozeb 800 g kg1) at 2 kg ha1 (Experiments 1
and 2), Bravo fungicides (chlorothalonil 720 g l1) at
1.5 l ha1 (Experiments 2 and 3) and Melpat Coppox
agricultural fungicide/bactericides (copper oxychloride
500 g kg1) at 2 kg ha1 (Experiment 2).
Experiment 1 was a randomised block factorial with four
replicates, sown 27/04/2001 and infected seedlings trans-
planted 22/05/2001. Seven spray-treatment combinations
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
G.J. Thomas et al. / Crop Protection 27 (2008) 10711077
were applied for each fungicide product: untreated, full
control (every 3 weeks from 6 weeks after sowing, 14/6, 2/7,
20/7, 13/8, 31/8, 10/9), full control to main stem owering
(14/6, 2/7), main stem owering (20/7, 50% of plants with
50% of owers open), primary branch owering (13/8,
juvenile pods on base of main stem inorescence, 50% of
owers open primary branches), secondary branch ower-
ing (31/8, 24 cm pods on base of main stem inorescence,
1 cm pods on base of primary branch inorescence
and 50% of owers open on secondary branches) and
full ower protection (20/7, 13/8, 31/8, 10/9). Rainfall
following fungicide application: spray 1 (2 mm over
next 20 d), spray 2 (4 mm, 1 d after; and 50 mm, 7 d after),
spray 3main stem owering (54 mm, 10 d after), spray
4rst-order branches owering (28 mm, 2 d after), spray
5second-order branches owering (12 mm, 7 d after) and
spray 6 (10 mm, 6 h after).
Experiment 2 was a randomised block factorial with four
replicates, sown 7/5/2002 and infected seedlings trans-
planted 28/5/2002. There were four spray treatment
combinations for each fungicide product: untreated,
single spray owering on main stems (24/7, 75% of owers
open on main stem inorescence with juvenile pods
becoming visible at the base of the inorescence),
single spray owering primary branches (7/8, 12 cm pods
on the base of main stem inorescence, occasional juvenile
pods visible on the base of primary branch inorescence)
and two owering sprays (main stem and primary
branches). Rainfall following fungicide application: spray
1 (10 mm, 2 h prior; and 5 mm, 4 h after), spray 2 (10 mm,
1 d after).
Experiment 3 was a randomised block factorial with
four replicates, sown 21/05/2003 and infected seedlings
transplanted 18/06/2003. Two spray treatment combina-
tions were carried out: untreated or two sprays applied
at main stem and primary branch owering/podding.
The rst spray was applied on 2/9/2003 (12 cm pods
on the base of main stem inorescence, 50% of owers
open primary branch inorescence) and the second
spray was applied on 19/9/2003 (4 cm pods on the
base of main stem inorescence, 12 cm pods on the
base of primary branch inorescence and 50% of owers
open secondary branch inorescence). Rainfall following
fungicide application: spray 1 (3 mm, 12 h after; and 5 mm,
4, 5 and 6 d after), spray 2 (5 mm, 1 d after; 16 mm 3 d
after).
Disease assessment was carried out on 25 plants from
each plot when plants had begun to senesce and drop
leaves. Each plant was visually assessed for the presence of
anthracnose symptoms on the main stem and lateral
branches and the number of infected and uninfected seed-
bearing pods.
Plot yields were determined by machine harvest
in all experiments. One thousand randomly sub-sampled
seeds from every plot were moist incubated to assess
infection in harvested seed (Thomas and Sweetingham,
2004).
1073
2.4. Statistical analysis
Effects of fungicide spray on anthracnose severity and
incidence, grain yields and seed infection were analysed
statistically by analysis of variance using GenStat (Release
8.1). Treatment means were compared by Fishers least
signicant difference test.
3. Results
3.1. Glasshouse assessment of fungicide efficacy
Application of fungicide reduced anthracnose severity in
glasshouse-inoculated plants and both active ingredient
and application timing affected disease severity. When
applied 1 d prior to inoculation, azoxystrobin-, copper
oxychloride-, mancozeb- and chlorothalonil-based pro-
ducts reduced lesion severity by more than 80% compared
with untreated controls. Several other products signi-
cantly reduced lesion severity but were not as effective as
azoxystrobin. Most fungicides were also effective when
applied 5 d prior to inoculation; however at this application
time, only azoxystrobin reduced lesion severity by sig-
nicantly more than 50%. Iprodione and procymidone did
not signicantly reduce lesion severity at either time of
application (Table 1).
Fungicide application post-inoculation was not effective.
Both mancozeb and azoxystrobin applied 1 or 4 d post-
inoculation failed to reduce either incidence or severity of
infection, whilst in the same experiment applications at
similar periods prior to inoculation signicantly reduced
both disease incidence and severity (Fig. 1). Similar disease
responses were obtained in a repeat of this experiment with
tebuconazole and mancozeb; however, application of
tebuconazole reduced plant height signicantly (data not
presented).
3.2. Field assessment of fungicide efficacy
3.2.1. Experiment 1 (Badgingarra 2001)
Spread of anthracnose from infected transplants was
very effective and infection levels were high, almost 100%
of untreated plants exhibiting symptoms on stems,
branches or pods.
Reduced disease and increased yield were observed from
some fungicide applications. Efcacy of both azoxystrobin
and mancozeb were similar, there were no interactions
between fungicide product and spray timing and combined
results are presented (Table 2).
Multiple fungicide applications reduced incidence of
anthracnose symptoms on stems and pods, increased pod
numbers and subsequently resulted in higher yield. Of the
single application treatments, only the primary branch
owering application had a signicant impact on anthrac-
nose incidence and grain yield.
Infection in harvested seed was reduced but not
eradicated by fungicide application and remained at a
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
1074 G.J. Thomas et al. / Crop Protection 27 (2008) 10711077

Table 1
Impact of a range of fungicides applied 1 or 5 d prior to anthracnose spray 5 Azoxystrobin Mancozeb
inoculation on anthracnose stem lesion severity in Lupinus angustifolius
(cv. Belara) grown under glasshouse conditions
4
Experiment Fungicide (rate) Maximum stem lesion severitya

Disease severity (0-5)

Lsd = 1.2
Fungicide 5 d Fungicide 1 d 3
pre-inoculation pre-inoculation

Exp. 1 Untreated 3.4 2

Azoxystrobin 0.6b 0.5b
(250 g ai ha1)
Carbendazim 2.8 1.6b 1
(250 g ai ha1)
Chlorothalonil 2.3b 0.4b,c
(1000 g ai ha1) 0
Mancozeb 1.7b 0.3b,c
(1600 g ai ha1) 100
Tebuconazole 2.2b 2.3b
(100 g ai ha1) Lsd = 34
Lsd (P 0.05) 1.1 80

Plants infected (%)

Exp. 2 Untreated 3.4
Azoxystrobin 0.3b 0.6b 60
(250 g ai ha1)
Copper oxychloride 2.2b 0.5b,c
40
(1000 g ai ha1)
Iprodione 3.3 3.4
(250 g ai ha1) 20
Procymidone 3.7 4.1
(275 g ai ha1)
Lsd (P=0.05) 1.2 0
Nil 4 days 1 day 1 day 4 days
Exp. 3 Untreated 3.4 prior prior post post
Azoxystrobin 0.2b 0.3b
(250 g ai ha1) Fig. 1. Impact of two fungicides, applied 1 or 4 d prior or post-
Benomyl 2.0b 1.9b anthracnose spray inoculation, on (a) anthracnose severity and (b)
(250 g ai ha1) incidence of plants with stem infection in Lupinus angustifolius (cv.
Cyproconazole 1.9b 2.8 Belara) grown under glasshouse conditions. Bar LsdP 0.05.
(100 g ai ha1)
Tebuconazole 1.6b 1.3b
(200 g ai ha1)
Lsd (P 0.05) 1.1 primary branches and whole plants with two sprays of
a
Severity measured on 05 scale.
chlorothalonil more than doubling the number of pods.
b
Signicantly different from untreated control in that experiment. However, fungicide sprays did not reduce the proportion of
c
Signicantly different from 5 d pre-inoculation application of that anthracnose-infected pods and as a result had no impact on
fungicide. the level of seed infection.
Single or multiple applications of azoxystrobin or
relatively high level of approximately 1% in the full control chlorothalonil or multiple applications of mancozeb
treatment. signicantly increased yield. Two sprays of chlorothalonil
or azoxystrobin were most effective, giving a 60% increase
3.2.2. Experiment 2 (Badgingarra 2002) in yield from that of the untreated group.
Anthracnose infection was severe in this experiment; Neither single nor multiple applications of copper
infection was well established in all plots prior to fungicide oxychloride had a signicant impact on disease incidence
applications and in the nal disease assessments over 90% or grain yield.
of plants in all treatments exhibited symptoms on some
part of the plant. 3.2.3. Experiment 3 (Badgingarra 2003)
Fungicides did not signicantly reduce infection on main Both naturally occurring infection and transplanted
stems or primary branches; however, all chlorothalonil additional inoculum sources resulted in signicant levels
treatments and multiple applications of azoxystrobin of anthracnose by the time of fungicide application.
and mancozeb reduced infection on secondary branches Infection established earlier and reached greater incidence
(Table 3). in plots containing transplants.
Two sprays of either azoxystrobin or chlorothalonil Incidence of stem infection was greater and the effect of
signicantly increased pod numbers on main stems, early infection from transplants was more pronounced in
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
G.J. Thomas et al. / Crop Protection 27 (2008) 10711077 1075

Table 2
Effect of foliar fungicide (average of azoxystrobin and mancozeb) on anthracnose infection in stems, pods and seed and on pod number and grain yield of
Lupinus angustifolius (cv. Belara) grown in eld Experiment 1 at Badgingarra Research Station in 2001

Fungicide application time Stem infection Pod infection Number of podsa Grain yield Seed infection
(% plants) (% pods) (pods/plant) (t ha1) (% seeds)

Untreated 80.2 22.5 11.6 1.14 3.3

6 and 9 weeks after sowing 85.3 22.6 13.2 1.22
Main stem owering 87.8 24.2 13.8 1.24 3.2
Primary branches owering 48.7 16.2 15.5 1.62 1.9
Secondary branches owering 81.1 18.6 11.8 1.39 2.2
Full owering protection 44.4 13.2 22.4 1.78 0.9
Full control (all applications) 55.8 11.4 18.5 1.79 1.0
Lsd (P 0.05) 16.5 5.8 4.9 0.28 1.8
a
Number of seed-producing pods (sum of infected and uninfected).

Table 3
Effect of fungicide products and spray timings on anthracnose infection in stems, pods and seed and on pod number and grain yield of Lupinus
angustifolius (cv. Belara) grown in eld Experiment 2 at Badgingarra Research Station in 2002

Fungicide Fungicide application time Stem infection Pod infection Number of podsa Grain yield Seed infection
(% plants) (% pods) (pods/plant) (t ha1) (% seeds)

Untreated 98.3 36.3 3.8 0.95 4.9

Azoxystrobin Main stem owering 99.2 40.5 3.9 1.18
Primary branch owering 90.8 38.7 5.8 1.40
Full control (two sprays) 86.5 36.4 6.8 1.50 3.6
Mancozeb Main stem owering 92.4 39.7 3.5 1.03
Primary branch owering 97.4 38.2 4.5 1.05
Full control (two sprays) 88.2 32.6 5.8 1.38 4.8
Chlorothalonil Main stem owering 90.1 45.3 5.4 1.23
Primary branch owering 92.3 33.3 5.9 1.32
Full control (two sprays) 80.9 37.8 8.6 1.50 4.7
Copper Main stem owering 97.5 39.7 3.9 1.05
oxychloride
Primary branch owering 99.2 45.3 3.5 0.88
Full control (two sprays) 97.5 38.5 4.7 1.04 4.2
Lsd (P 0.05) 8.7 ns 2.3 0.22 ns
a
Number of seed-producing pods (sum of infected and uninfected).

Table 4
Effect of anthracnose inoculum source and fungicide application on anthracnose infection in stems, pods and seed and on pod number and grain yield of
Lupinus angustifolius (cvs. Kalya and Tanjil) in eld Experiment 3 at Badgingarra Research Station in 2003

Treatment Stem infection Number of pods Pod infection Grain yield Seed infection
a
(% plants) (pods/plant) (% pods) (t ha1) (% seeds)

Unsprayed 76.6 6.3 20.8 1.29 0.58

Fungicide sprayed 72.2 10.3 10.5 1.83 0.41
Lsd (P 0.05) ns 1.3 3.1 0.15 ns
Kalya 84.7 6.0 14.9 1.33 0.70
Tanjil 64.1 10.5 16.3 1.79 0.30
Lsd (P 0.05) 9.5 1.3 ns 0.15 0.40
Natural spread 67.4 9.4 13.0 1.69
Transplant 81.4 7.2 18.3 1.43
Lsd (P 0.05) 9.5 1.3 3.1 0.15
a
Number of seed-producing pods (sum of infected and uninfected).

cv. Kalya than in Tanjil. Fungicide had little effect on Fungicide application resulted in grain yield responses of
incidence of infection on main stems or branches of either 2040%. The more resistant cultivar Tanjil out-yielded
cultivar (Table 4). Kalya in all treatment comparisons; however, both

1076 G.J. Thomas et al. / Crop Protection 27 (2008) 10711077
2.5 2.3 Sprayed Unsprayed
2.0
2 between application and infection generally reduced
1.6 1.6
Yield (t ha-1)
1.5
1.3 1.3
1 0.9
0.5
0 opportunities are linked to rainfall. Therefore, application
Natural Transplant Natural
Tanjil Kalya
Fig. 2. Effect of anthracnose inoculum source (natural disease spread or
infected transplants) and fungicide application on yield of Lupinus
angustifolius (cvs. Kalya and Tanjil) at Badgingarra Research Station in
2003. Bar LsdP 0.05.
cultivars showed similar yield responses to fungicide
application (Fig. 2). Yield responses mirrored the 60%
increase in total pods. The major component of the yield
increase was on the primary branches where pod numbers
more than doubled from 1.8 pods per plant to 4.3 pods per
plant.
Fungicide had a small effect on infection in harvested
seed; however, signicant infection still occurred in both
sprayed and unsprayed treatments.
4. Discussion
Of the range of systemic and contact fungicides assessed
under glasshouse conditions for efcacy of anthracnose
control, azoxystrobin was highly effective and has been
previously reported as being effective under eld conditions
(Romer et al., 2000). Contact fungicides such as chlor-
othalonil and mancozeb were also highly effective particu-
larly when applied close to the time of infection. Products
containing chlorothalonil have been reported to reduce
lupin anthracnose in Polish experiments (Horoszkiewicz-
Janka et al., 2002). Tebuconazole has been reported as
providing signicant eld responses for rust and brown
spot management (Etheridge and Bateman, 1999) and has
been used in conjunction with azoxystrobin for anthrac-
nose management in perennial lupins (Weik et al., 2002)
but gave variable control of anthracnose in our glasshouse
experiments. It reduced disease severity but was less
effective than azoxystrobin. Other triazoles such as
propiconazole, prochloraz and triadimefon were less
effective (results not reported).
Fungicides chosen for eld screening were mostly
of the protectant type. These fungicides were chosen
primarily because they were highly effective in the glass-
house and because registration may be more easily
achieved as they have full or temporary registration for
disease management in other grain legume crops in
Australia.
ARTICLE IN PRESS
Under glasshouse conditions timing of application
impacted on fungicide efcacy. Increasing the period
efcacy, particularly in protectant fungicides. Following
1.5 application, newly emerging tissue is unprotected, and with
increasing time between application and infection a greater
area of unprotected tissue exists. This is particularly
important given the susceptibility of newly emerged tissue
to infection (Diggle et al., 2002). Application following
infection was not effective.
Under eld conditions, disease spread and infection
Transplant
of fungicide, particularly protectants, needs to occur prior
to rainfall, but preferably within 45 d. In 2001, a range of
fungicide responses were observed, with the most effective
being on primary branches when rainfall (and therefore
anthracnose infection) occurred shortly after fungicide
application. This response was consistent for both azoxy-
strobin and mancozeb. In both 2002 and 2003, fungicide
applications were followed within 12 d by rainfall and on
all occasions were highly effective.
Anthracnose impacts on lupin yield by reducing the
number of pods produced on each plant, either indirectly by
severing of stems and branches or directly through abortion
of owers and pods and seed infection. Our experiments
indicate that protection of pods appears to be an effective
method of reducing yield loss. Whilst some degree of stem
protection was achieved by fungicides, signicant levels of
infection still occurred and it would seem that the use
of resistant cultivars remains the most effective way of
reducing yield loss through stem infection. However,
signicant yield loss can still occur in resistant cultivars
through infection of owers and pods (Thomas and
Sweetingham, 2004). In more resistant cultivars, application
at podding will be timed to protect the most vulnerable part
of the plant. In 2002 and 2003 applications that coincided
with podding on the primary branches resulted in a
signicant increase in pod number and subsequently greater
yield. Optimum yield occurred with the combination of
resistant cultivar and effective fungicide.
Crop safety is an important part of the use of any
fungicide. In eld experiments, deleterious effects were not
observed from fungicide application. However, under
glasshouse conditions tebuconazole reduced the height of
the L. angustifolius cultivar Belara. Tebuconazole has been
recorded as being effective in reducing rust infection in
L. albus without reports of crop damage. Possibly under
eld conditions or in species other than L. angustifolius this
response is not noticeable.
In these reported experiments, yield gains of up to
0.7 t ha1 were recorded (Fig. 2); however, other experi-
ments conducted under similar conditions realised lower or
no yield response (results not reported). On these occasions
disease pressure was lower, application timing poor or
disease impact on yield low. Similarly, responses between
years were not identical; in 2001 azoxystrobin and mancozeb
gave similar levels of control, but in 2002 azoxystrobin was
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
G.J. Thomas et al. / Crop Protection 27 (2008) 10711077
more effective, indicating that some variability in eld
response might be expected. It should be noted therefore
that whilst foliar fungicide application has been shown to
signicantly reduce anthracnose infection, particularly in
pods, this does not guarantee an economic yield response.
Within Western Australia, lupins are an important
component of crop rotations on many farms. Management
of foliar and stem diseases, including anthracnose, relies on
the integrated use of rotation, cultural techniques, seed
source, seed-dressing fungicides and disease-resistant culti-
vars. Whilst foliar fungicides are used widely for produc-
tion of cereal and other grain legume crops, this has not
been the case in lupin production. Anthracnose is a
particular threat to lupin cropping within the high rainfall
northern agricultural zone of Western Australia as a result
of warmer winter temperatures, higher rainfall and the
widespread presence of anthracnose susceptible sandplain
lupins. Even with the use of resistant cultivars, signicant
yield losses can occur. These experiments have shown that
strategic use of foliar-applied fungicide may have a place in
the integrated management of lupin anthracnose in these
high-risk environments of Western Australia.
Acknowledgements
Personnel from the Department of Agriculture and Food
Geraldton and Badgingarra Research Support Units are
thanked for maintenance of eld experiments. The Grain
Research and Development Corporation provided nan-
cial support for this research.
1077
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