Professional paper

Olive leaf spot – the most common disease of olive trees

Tihomir Miličević ; Sveučilište u Zagrebu Agronomski fakultet, Zagreb, Hrvatska *

* Corresponding author.

Abstract

Several diseases have been described on olive trees, but olive leaf spots considered the most common and one of the most important diseases of olive trees in our country and worldwide. The causal agent of this disease is the plant pathogenic fungus Venturia oleaginea, also known by the synonym Spilocaea oleaginea. The main symptom of the disease is dark green spots, which over time become dark brown in the centre due to necrosis, and the surrounding cells turn yellow. Later, such infected leaves fall off or defoliation occurs, which is also one of the main symptoms of this disease. Although the pathogenic fungus is present in olive groves throughout the growing season, in our ecological conditions there are two main periods of infection, namely spring (March-April) and autumn (October-November), when it is necessary to carry out fungicide treatments. In our country, fungicides based on azoxystrobin, trifloxystrobin with tebuconazole, kresoxim-methyl, copper oxide, potassium phosphonates, etc., and some biofungicides, such as bacteriofungicides based on the antagonistic bacterium species Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, are currently available for this purpose.

Keywords

olive; leaf spot; Venturia oleaginea

Hrčak ID:

350036

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/350036

Publication date:

15.7.2026.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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