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Wet, cool weather has brought an unwelcome visitor to Salinas Valley spinach fields this winter. Downy mildew race 5 is rapidly destroying crops across the Valley and growers are scrambling to replace susceptible varieties with hardier, disease-resistant hybrids.

In response to the outbreak, researchers from Novartis Seeds Inc. in Gilroy, California have been testing current commercial spinach varieties to gauge their resistance to the new fungus.

"We’re working with samples of downy mildew taken from a Salinas field late last fall," said Craig Sandlin, a plant pathologist for the company. "In our tests, Nordic IV has shown high resistance to this new strain affecting fields in the Salinas Valley."

Nordic IV, a Rogers brand variety, was first introduced commercially by Novartis Seeds, Inc. in late 1994. "Nordic IV was slow to catch on," admits Neil Ledford, crop business manager for the company, "but planted in the fall and spring, this variety’s really done well in the Salinas Valley. It has stood up to downy mildew races one through five and has delivered good, high quality yields." Ledford recently placed trials of new, Rogers brand experimental spinach varieties with even better disease resistance.

Downy mildew race 5 first became a problem in early 1997. Steve Ray of T&C Supplies, Salinas, noticed evidence of the new race in his customers’ fields in February. "But, it really took off in the Salinas Valley last October," he said. Although most commercial spinach varieties have been hit hard, Ray sees hope for Valley spinach growers. "Right now, Nordic IV is probably the cleanest variety out there."

Based on the 1996 Monterey County Crop Report, approximately 8,000 acres of spinach fields in the Salinas Valley could be threatened by downy mildew race 5. Cool temperatures and moist conditions enable the fungus to spread rapidly from field to field with the wind.

"A field can go from looking healthy to heavily diseased in as little as one week," said Sandlin. "With any food crop it’s important to minimize chemical applications. Demands from the fresh-cut industry for a consistent supply of high quality product, and consumer focus on food safety makes identification of new, disease-resistant varieties increasingly important."

Novartis Seeds, Inc.
diana.caldwell@seeds.novartis.com

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