Managing storage: a major economic challenge
Over the last fifteen years, in response to strong consumer demand, red kuri squash, like the whole squash family, has seen significant growth (over 44% in volume) in all French production areas (Sanvicente et al., 2019). For market gardeners, it is fairly easy to grow, making it a product that can be used to diversify their crop range.
Its development, in both organic and conventional farming, is currently limited by the development of rots during storage. As a result, it is difficult to keep red kuri squash longer than three months. Losses are mainly due to fungal rots caused by Didymella bryoniae, but also by various species of Fusarium and Colletotrichum (Hawthorne 1988, 1990; Minherhoud et al. 2008). At present, there is no effective solution for controlling the development of these storage pathogens.