The Effect of Mineral Sulfur as a Safe Compound on Verticillium Wilt of Pistachio Seedlings under Greenhouse Condition

Subject Areas : Journal of Chemical Health Risks

Masoumeh Haghdel ^{1 *} , Amir Hossein Mohammadi ² , Bahman Panahi ³ , Mehdi Mohammadi-Moghadam ⁴

1 - Pistachio Research Center, Horticultural Sciences Research Institute, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Rafsanjan, Iran
2 - Pistachio Research Center, Horticultural Sciences Research Institute, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Rafsanjan, Iran
3 - Pistachio Research Center, Horticultural Sciences Research Institute, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Rafsanjan, Iran
4 - Crop and Horticultural Sciences Research Department, Semnan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center (Shahrood), AREEO, Shahrood, Iran

Received: 2025-01-06 Accepted : 2025-04-28 Published : 2025-06-15

Keywords: Non-chemical control, Soil-borne disease, Sulfur, Vascular wilt, Verticillium dahliae,

Abstract :

Verticillium wilt is one of the soil-borne diseases in pistachio orchards that can cause great damage to pistachio trees. The use of safe and low risk fungicide such as sulfur along with other control methods can be effective in reducing of pests and diseases damage in pistachio orchards. In this research, the effect of three concentrations of mineral sulfur (2%,4% and 8%) was evaluated on the disease severity of Verticillium wilt of pistachio seedlings (cv. Ahmad Aghaei) before and after inoculation with Verticillium dahliae under greenhouse conditions in Rafsanjan. The experiment was conducted as a factorial in a completely randomized design with five replications. The results showed that concentrations of 4 and 8% of sulfur in the absence of pathogens increased the growth characteristics, chlorophyll concentration and nutrients levels in the aerial parts of pistachio seedlings. In treatment of sulfur 8% before the pathogen inoculation, all the measured traits showed significant increase compared to the pathogen treatment (Vd). The colonization percentage of the pathogen in the stem of seedlings decreased significantly from 97% in treatment of pathogen to 82.4% in treatment of sulfur 8% before pathogen. Also, treatment of mineral sulfur 8% before pathogen with a decrease of 19.3% showed the lowest severity index of Verticillium wilt of pistachio seedlings compared to pathogen treatment. overall, the results of this research demonstrate that applying mineral sulfur 8% before pathogen can improve the growth, biochemical and nutritional characteristics of pistachio seedlings and reduce the severity of Verticillium wilt of pistachio seedlings in greenhouse conditions.

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