Thiabendazole as an iatrogenic agent in carrot black rot

Negligible amounts of carrot (Daucus carota L.) seed were produced in Brazil prior to the release of cv. Brasilia in 1982. This cultivar is tolerant of high temperature and resistant to leaf blight caused by Alternaria dauci (Kühn) Groves & Skolko (Vieira et al., 1983). Since 1982 technology for production of Brasilia seed has developed rapidly and over 40 t of seed have been produced, representing more than 8000 ha planted. Fungicides are widely used on carrot root crops and growers have naturally extended their use to carrot seed crops. Mancozeb, thiabendazole, captafol and chlorothalonil, applied at weekly intervals, are the most common fungicides used although their efficacy in this new situation has not been evaluated. A survey of pathogens associated with carrot seed production (Reifschneider & Della Vecchia. 1983) has shown that the most common fungal pathogen is Alternaria radicina Meier, Dreschler & Eddy, a species which is a common seed‐borne pathogen in the USA (Rader, 1952) and has been present in Brazil since 1970 or earlier (Luz, 1970). Since information concerning the control of A. radicina in carrot seed crops is lacking we established a preliminary fungicide experiment in July 1982 within a 5‐ha commercial field planted with artificially vernalized roots of which 90% were infected, to varying degrees, with A. radicina. Plots were 25 m2 and each treatment (Table 1) was replicated five times, in a completely randomized design. Seeds were harvested manually at maturity and dried by forced air at c. 30°C. Infection by A. radicina was detected using the method of Soteros (1979) in which heat‐treated seeds (100°C for 1 h) are plated on malt agar. A total of 200 seeds per plot (20 seeds per plate) were used. Identification of A. radicina was based on conidium and conidiophore morphology (Ellis & Holliday, 1972).