Abstract
Charcoal rot of strawberry caused by the soilborne pathogen Macrophomina phaseolina has increased in importance in Australia and many other countries since 2005. Several factors might explain the increase in the disease in Australia, including the withdrawal of the soil fumigant methyl bromide in 2005 due to its adverse effect on the stratospheric ozone. We conducted a field experiment to test the hypothesis that soil disinfestation with methyl bromide could eliminate charcoal rot in a strawberry field severely affected by the disease. The results showed that a single application of methyl bromide/chloropicrin reduced M. phaseolina in infected strawberry crowns buried in soil by 98% and DNA concentrations in soil at planting by 100% compared with the untreated control. The use of methyl bromide/chloropicrin also reduced charcoal rot in the strawberry crop by 99.7% and increased marketable fruit yields by 86% and revenue by A$2.81 per plant. In contrast, the adopted substitute fumigant, 1,3-dichloropropene/chloropicrin, controlled M. phaseolina and charcoal rot considerably less effectively than methyl bromide/chloropicrin. The results add weight to the premise that the phase-out of methyl bromide was an important factor that contributed to the increase in charcoal rot in strawberry in Australia and possibly in other countries. The benefits of methyl bromide withdrawal for the environment are significant and well documented, so the ongoing need to identify suitable alternatives for managing soilborne diseases such as charcoal rot remains vitally important. [Formula: see text] Copyright © 2025 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY 4.0 International license .
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Claims 7
Claim · model-written summary
Methyl bromide/chloropicrin reduced M. phaseolina in infected strawberry crowns buried in soil by 98% compared with the untreated control.
- Taxon
- strawberry
_single2.jpg?width=60)
Fragaria ×ananassae0 - Organ / stage
- infected strawberry crownse1
- Treatment
- a single application of methyl bromide/chloropicrine1
- Interactor
- Macrophomina phaseolina
Macrophomina phaseolinae0pathogen - Outcome
- M. phaseolinae1
- Direction
- reducede1
- Value
- 98%e1
- Comparator
- untreated controle1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
_single2.jpg?width=500)
Verbatim
e0“Charcoal rot of strawberry caused by the soilborne pathogen Macrophomina phaseolina”
e1“a single application of methyl bromide/chloropicrin reduced M. phaseolina in infected strawberry crowns buried in soil by 98% and DNA concentrations in soil at planting by 100% compared with the untreated control”
Claim · model-written summary
Methyl bromide/chloropicrin reduced DNA concentrations of M. phaseolina in soil at planting by 100% compared with the untreated control.
- Taxon
- strawberryFragaria ×ananassae1
- Treatment
- a single application of methyl bromide/chloropicrine1
- Interactor
- M. phaseolinaMacrophomina phaseolinae1pathogen
- Outcome
- DNA concentrations in soil at plantinge1
- Direction
- reducede1
- Value
- 100%e1
- Comparator
- untreated controle1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“a single application of methyl bromide/chloropicrin reduced M. phaseolina in infected strawberry crowns buried in soil by 98% and DNA concentrations in soil at planting by 100% compared with the untreated control”
Claim · model-written summary
Methyl bromide/chloropicrin reduced charcoal rot in the strawberry crop by 99.7%.
- Taxon
- strawberryFragaria ×ananassae2
- Treatment
- methyl bromide/chloropicrine2
- Interactor
- Macrophomina phaseolinaMacrophomina phaseolinae0pathogen
- Outcome
- charcoal rot in the strawberry crope2
- Direction
- reducede2
- Value
- 99.7%e2
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Charcoal rot of strawberry caused by the soilborne pathogen Macrophomina phaseolina”
e2“The use of methyl bromide/chloropicrin also reduced charcoal rot in the strawberry crop by 99.7% and increased marketable fruit yields by 86% and revenue by A$2.81 per plant”
Claim · model-written summary
Methyl bromide/chloropicrin increased marketable strawberry fruit yields by 86%.
- Taxon
- strawberryFragaria ×ananassae2
- Treatment
- methyl bromide/chloropicrine2
- Outcome
- marketable fruit yieldse2
- Direction
- increasede2
- Value
- 86%e2
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e2“The use of methyl bromide/chloropicrin also reduced charcoal rot in the strawberry crop by 99.7% and increased marketable fruit yields by 86% and revenue by A$2.81 per plant”
Claim · model-written summary
Methyl bromide/chloropicrin increased strawberry revenue by A$2.81 per plant.
- Taxon
- strawberryFragaria ×ananassae2
- Treatment
- methyl bromide/chloropicrine2
- Outcome
- revenuee2
- Direction
- increasede2
- Value
- A$2.81 per plante2
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e2“The use of methyl bromide/chloropicrin also reduced charcoal rot in the strawberry crop by 99.7% and increased marketable fruit yields by 86% and revenue by A$2.81 per plant”
Claim · model-written summary
The substitute fumigant 1,3-dichloropropene/chloropicrin controlled M. phaseolina and charcoal rot less effectively than methyl bromide/chloropicrin.
- Taxon
- strawberryFragaria ×ananassae0
- Treatment
- 1,3-dichloropropene/chloropicrine3
- Interactor
- M. phaseolinaMacrophomina phaseolinae3pathogen
- Outcome
- M. phaseolina and charcoal rote3
- Direction
- less effectivelye3
- Comparator
- methyl bromide/chloropicrine3
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Charcoal rot of strawberry caused by the soilborne pathogen Macrophomina phaseolina”
e3“In contrast, the adopted substitute fumigant, 1,3-dichloropropene/chloropicrin, controlled M. phaseolina and charcoal rot considerably less effectively than methyl bromide/chloropicrin”
Claim · model-written summary
The phase-out of methyl bromide is associated with the increase in charcoal rot in strawberry in Australia.
- Taxon
- strawberryFragaria ×ananassae4
- Treatment
- phase-out of methyl bromidee4
- Outcome
- increase in charcoal rote4
- Direction
- increasee4
- Setting
- Australiae4
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e4“The results add weight to the premise that the phase-out of methyl bromide was an important factor that contributed to the increase in charcoal rot in strawberry in Australia”
The same questions in other papers
bromomethane · quality: postharvest · Fragaria x ananassa (strawberry)Positive and negative results
2 papers in the same direction as this paper · 1 in the opposite direction
- no effect
- positive
- positive
chloropicrin · Macrophomina phaseolina · Fragaria x ananassa (strawberry)Results agree
1 paper in the same direction as this paper
- positive
chloropicrin · quality: postharvest · Fragaria x ananassa (strawberry)Results agree
1 paper in the same direction as this paper
- positive
bromomethane · Macrophomina phaseolina · Fragaria x ananassa (strawberry)Results agree
2 papers in the same direction as this paper
- positive
- positive
Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.