The downy mildew, caused by Plasmopora viticola, is one of the most important grapevine (Vitis vinifera) diseases in Southern Brazil, causing defoliation and economic losses. The evaluation of disease severity is an important decision for adoption of strategies and tactics for disease control. Therefore, the objective of this work was to elaborate and to validate a diagrammatic scale to assess downy mildew severity in grapevine, respecting the limitations of visual acuity. The diagrammatic scale with seven levels of disease severity of 1, 3, 6, 12, 25, 50 and 75% was developed in two versions of black-and-white and color scale. The scales were tested and validated by eight raters with and without previous experience with grapevine downy mildew. The raters... |