Prevalence and Pathogenicity of Foot and Root Rot Pathogens of Pea in Southern Scandinavia

The occurrence of root pathogens of vining pea was determined in field surveys in Sweden and Denmark from 1989 to 1994. The most serious yield-reducing root pathogen, Aphanomyces euteiches, was found in approximately one-third of the sampled fields in both Sweden and Denmark. In a few fields severely infested with this pathogen, there was a total crop failure. The most frequently isolated pathogens were Phoma medicaginis var. pinodella and Fusarium solani; the latter also was isolated from vascular tissue up to the seventh node level. Other pathogens isolated from roots were F. avenaceum, F. oxysporum, F. culmorum, Chalara elegans, Pythium irregulare, and Mycosphaerella pinodes. In greenhouse pathogenicity tests, A. euteiches caused the most severe root damage and plant death of pea, followed by F. avenaceum and P. irregulare. There was an inverse relationship between field disease severity index and yield for fields infested with A. euteiches.