Controlling fungus on Cripps Pink apples

Apple growers in the Western Cape suffer significant post-harvest losses due to the fungus Phylctema vagabunda, which infects the Cripps Pink apple cultivar. Worldwide, the fungus forms part of the bull’s eye rot disease complex on pome fruit. Currently, not much is known about the distribution of the fungus or the extent to which the disease is present on Cripps Pink apples in the Western Cape.

In a recent study published, Jessica Rochefort, a master’s student in the Fruit and Postharvest Pathology Programme (FPPP) at Stellenbosch University (SU), confirmed the presence and determined the incidence of on stored commercial Cripps Pink apples in the major apple-growing regions of the Western Cape over three seasons, namely 2010/2011, 2011/2012 and 2012/2013. The FPPP is led by Dr Cheryl Lennox of SU’s Department of Plant Pathology.