Diseases of Temperate Nuts

Plant disease can significantly reduce the market size of edible nuts in the regions where these nut trees are growing. This chapter covers economically essential diseases of almond, pistachio, pecan nut, hazelnut, walnut, and chestnut crops. Here, we address the biotic agents limiting the cultivation of nut fruits worldwide and imposing huge economic yield losses in the nut industry. We summarise some important diseases in terms of developed symptoms on the infected tree, pathogen description, epidemiology, and recommended measures in managing nut disease. We discuss the environmental conditions, facilitating disease development, and, eventually, suggest appropriate measures to control nut diseases. Nut crops are common snacks and come in many fruit crops, which include almond, pistachio, hazelnut, walnut, chestnut, pecannut, and chilgoza. In 2020, the edible nuts market size in the U.S. was calculated at US$24 billion, and this country accounts for a 27.06% share in the global market (Anonymous, Edible nuts-global market trajectory and analytics, Global Industry Analysts, Inc., San Jose, 2021). A plethora of biotic and abiotic agents account for imposing significant economic losses on the nut industry. In this chapter, we aim to address the investigation of epidemiology and biology of the phytopathogens infecting nut crops and imposing economic losses on growers. Additionally, we summarise the remaining nut crops disease in a separate table.