Weather conditions make the Recôncavo Region in the State of Bahia, a favorable region to the occurrence of citrus greasy spot (Mycosphaerella citri), a disease that hadn't been studied before in Brazil. Thus, this research aimed to develop a sampling method to quantify its incidence, to characterize its symptoms, and to develop a diagrammatic scale for assessing disease severity. The minimum sample size to estimate greasy spot incidence in leaves (16 plants) was calculated based on a prospective sampling of five leaves per quadrant, four quadrants per tree, and 30 trees per grove, in ten groves. From 320 mature leaves collected in different plants of 11 groves, it was observed a high number of lesions per symptomatic leaf (mean of 131±102), most of them small (mean of 0.014±.,011cm²). Greasy spot severity varied from 0,15% to 35,85%, with a mean of 7,3%. Based on those severity values, a six level (1%, 2%, 5%, 9%, 18% e 36% of lesioned leaf area) diagrammatic scale was developed. 50 images of symptomatic leaves were showed to evaluators, which estimated the severity with and without the use of the scale. The diagrammatic scale use, slightly increased the estimates accuracy and precision.
Mycosphaerella citri; epidemiology; severity; Bahia
