control managements of aspergillus flavus a main aflatoxin producers and soil borne fungi on pistachio in kerman

the pistachio gardens in iran rival other countries with 280000 hectares and rank first in the world in terms of annual production 300,000 mts. ecological factors for pistachio planting favor the growth of aspergillus flavus which produce aflatoxin as secondary metabolites which reduces pistachio exports. it is important to control a. flavus and its aflatoxin production to increase pistachio exportation in the country. soil borne fungi such as fusarium spp., phytophthora spp. and verticilium spp. makes also root rot on pistachio trees which resulted yield reduction. it was necessary to find various ways for control management of these fungi to control wilting and inhibit toxic production on pistachio. soil solarization and biological control application were two best methods for controlling soil borne fungi and a. flavus which are used in many countries. we used soil solarization method for controlling soil borne fungal pathogens in kerman application of this method reduced population density of the pathogen from 1100 cfu –g/soil to 300 after 2 weeks and reduced to 100 cfu –g/soil after 4 weeks. this method was simple, effective, no side effect and economic which can be used in nearly warm areas. keyword: control, soil solarization, aspergillus flavus, pistachio