Adjusting sprinkler angle reduces spread of disease in pistachio

During summer, especially in pistachio orchards irrigated with high-trajectory-angle sprinklers, sprinkler water spreads fungal inocula of Botryosphaeria blight disease to fruit clusters, shoots and leaves. In tests, altering the sprinkler irrigation trajectory angle from 23° to 12° prevented release and spread of spore inoculum and significantly reduced the disease in three commercial pistachio orchards in the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys.