Antiserum vs phytopathogenic fungi in the tomato crop in Sonora, Mexico

Phytosanitary problems are to a large extent the cause of global economic losses in agricultural crops, which are mainly caused by fungi. In the Mexican Republic, specifically in the state of Sonora, Mexico, the area directed to the tomato crop has increased considerably in recent years. In the last production cycles, a problematic of phytosanitary control has been generated, where the symptoms of known pathogens, are confused with those of ‘new’ phytopathogens that are arriving to the agricultural areas, allowing the technician to have uncertainty of which pathogen treats and therefore does not succeed in applying a control in the crop. Going to professional services in phytosanitary laboratories, the demand too much, is usually an unaffordable way to the producer. The objective of the present investigation was to identify the causative agents of diseases: Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici (Race 1), Alternaria solani and Botritys cinerea on the sampled organs to know the current phytosanitary status of the tomato crop in the state of Sonora, to seed, seedling, foliage and physiological maturity, isolating and identifying them by means of the combination of diagnosis (production of antisera in New Zealand race rabbits, techniques for the use of culture media, Elisa and pathogenicity tests). The sampling for the identification of phytopathogenic fungi was carried out representatively in tomato producing regions. The results obtained show the identification of three representative fungi of economic importance in the tomato crop distributed in the state of Sonora. It is concluded that separate screening tests should not be used as a single detection method.