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Researchers from the Service Centre for Rural Areas (DLR) in Rhineland-Palatinate have found a remedy for Esca, a vine disease that is rampant and destructive in all growing regions. This was reported by the news agency dpa. According to the report, the wood-destroying fungus can be reliably prevented with other fungi. As Andreas Kortekamp and Joachim Eder of DLR Rheinpfalz explain, they infected the vine with the fungal species of Trichoderma. This is like a "protective inoculation for the grapevine". Where the completely harmless Trichoderma fungi settle, the fungi causing Esca can no longer settle.
The researchers found the useful fungi in the vines themselves. In the vineyard, however, they are found in only a few vines, Kortekamp told the dpa. Once inoculated, however, the fungi grow into the vine. This makes the process a "natural plant protection". "Science imitates or reinforces a natural system", the scientist emphasized.
If the seedlings were already inoculated with Trichoderma in the vine nurseries, the results would be very good, says Joachim Eder. The colonization rate is almost 100 percent. The fungal experts have not yet been able to identify any negative effects in their experimental plantings. An initial pesticide for older vines using the Trichoderma method has an efficiency of around 50 to 80 percent, says Kortekamp. The two scientists see huge commercial potential for Trichoderma fungi. Every year, approximately one percent of the world's vines die from Esca, resulting in annual losses of one billion euros.
(uka / Photo: Karl Bauer - Wikipedia)