Effects of Sprinkler Irrigation on Peanut Diseases in Virginia. D. M. Porter, Plant Pathologist, Department of Agriculture, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Tidewater Research Center, Suffolk 23437. F. S. Wright, and N. L. Powell. Agricultural Engineer, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Associate Professor, Department of Agronomy, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Tidewater Research Center, Suffolk 23437. Plant Dis. 71:512-515. Accepted for publication 30 November 1986. This article is in the public domain and not copyrightable. It may be freely reprinted with customary crediting of the source. The American Phytopathological Society, 1987. DOI: 10.1094/PD-71-0512.

A 4-yr field study was conducted to determine the effects of sprinkler irrigation on the incidence and severity of foliar and soilborne peanut diseases in southeastern Virginia. The plant canopy was denser and soil moisture content was higher with irrigated production regimes. Incidence and severity of Sclerotinia blight (Sclerotinia minor), pod rot (S. minor and Pythium myriotylum), and early leaf spot (Cercospora arachidicola) increased with sprinkler irrigation.