A new hygiene protocol for Fusarium in lettuce cultivation was published this summer by cooperating Belgian entities. A decade ago, widespread outbreaks began to occur in the Netherlands and Belgium. In the last two years, Fusarium physio 4 has also been popping up, with even a mutant, Fol 4+.
To tackle Fusarium, the cooperating parties say solutions should be sought through hygiene, resistance and (green) plant protection products. Also, by treating the soil, a grower can greatly reduce inoculum and thus keep symptoms more under control. Steaming currently yields the best results.
In addition, growing other crops can provide a solution during periods when Fol can cause major damage to lettuce. With some crops, they can limit or prevent the further development of Fusarium in the soil, thus limiting the increase in inoculum.
To minimise further spread on-farm and between farms of different physios, hygiene measures are necessary. This is important for physio 4 and 4+, but certainly also for physio 1 or any other physios that might slot in the future. When mixing infection occurs, variety choice is currently very limited.
View the entire Fusarium hygiene protocol in lettuce, update July 2024 , here.