AI Insight
Palisade peaches, a prized agricultural product of western Colorado, are facing a significant dual threat from cytospora canker, a fungal disease caused by *Cytospora leucostoma*, and the compounding effects of climate change. Cytospora canker is described as one of the most economically damaging diseases affecting peach growers in the region, weakening and killing peach trees by invading damaged or stressed bark tissue. Climate change is expected to exacerbate the problem by creating environmental conditions more favorable to disease spread and tree stress.
Why it matters
The Palisade peach is both a culturally significant and economically important crop for Colorado's agricultural sector, and the combined pressure of fungal disease and climate change poses a serious risk to growers' livelihoods and regional food production. Understanding and addressing this threat is critical for developing disease management strategies and informing agricultural policy in a changing climate.
In western Colorado, home to the treasured Palisade peach, cytospora canker is one of the most economically consequential fungal diseases faced by growers.
Source: A fungal disease and climate change threaten Colorado's prized peaches