White mold of beans in New York

Abstract

The fungus that causes the white mold disease of beans, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, has caused serious losses in central and western New York in recent years. The disease has been economically more important in snap beans than dry beans because in addition to direct losses in the field, detection of more than 2 per cent diseased pods in a truckload at the processing plant may result in rejection of the whole load. Furthermore, even a low incidence of white mold may lower the grade or increase the cost of processing.