Peer Review Record

Manuscript ID: JOSTA-202607-9CF1

Article Title: Mitigating Phytopathogenic Diseases in Orchards Through Strategic Irrigation

Double-anonymous review Accepted

Review Summary

Item	Details
Submission Date	19 July 2026
Editorial Screening	Completed
External Reviewers	2
Review Rounds	1
Revision Type	Major Revision
Final Decision	Accepted
Acceptance Date	02 September 2026

Item

Details

Submission Date

19 July 2026

Editorial Screening

Completed

External Reviewers

Review Rounds

Revision Type

Major Revision

Final Decision

Accepted

Acceptance Date

02 September 2026

Editorial Assessment

The manuscript is a review article addressing a timely and highly relevant topic, offering an interdisciplinary perspective connecting irrigation technology, pathogen epidemiology, plant water status, climate change, and integrated disease management in orchard systems. Reviewers regarded this interdisciplinary synthesis as the manuscript's major strength and found the article generally well written. However, substantial revision was required to improve scientific precision and balance: the manuscript needed to clearly distinguish irrigation methods from irrigation strategies, avoid presenting reduced or deficit irrigation as universally disease-suppressive, incorporate the possibility that severe water stress can increase disease susceptibility, strengthen pathogen-specific interpretation, correct several mechanistic inaccuracies, and more critically evaluate the strength of the available evidence. Reviewers also identified a number of citations that did not accurately support the claims attached to them, and recommended a thorough check of the reference list alongside inclusion of more recent references, additional pictorial and tabular material, and more detailed, specific, and recent research findings in the mechanistic sections. The authors satisfactorily addressed all comments, after which the manuscript was accepted for publication.

Review Timeline

Submission Received

19 July 2026

Manuscript submitted through the JOSTA submission portal.

Editorial Screening Completed

23 July 2026

Manuscript passed preliminary editorial checks.

Peer Review Initiated

30 July 2026

Two independent reviewers accepted the review assignment.

Reviewer Reports Received

12 August 2026

Reviewers recommended publication following major revision.

Revised Manuscript Received

27 August 2026

Authors submitted a revised version addressing reviewer concerns.

Final Decision

02 September 2026

Accepted for publication.

Published Online

19 August 2026

Article published in Volume 2, Issue 4.

Key Issues Addressed During Revision

Reviewer concerns are summarised by category. Specific comments and author responses are confidential.

Category	Nature of Concern	Status
Scope & Balance	Irrigation methods to be clearly distinguished from irrigation strategies; reduced/deficit irrigation not to be presented as universally disease-suppressive; possibility that severe water stress can increase disease susceptibility to be incorporated	✓ Addressed
Pathogen-Specific Interpretation	Interpretation to be strengthened at the pathogen level, including clarification of whether Fusarium and Verticillium species respond similarly to soil moisture conditions with respect to disease development and pathogen activity	✓ Addressed
Mechanistic Accuracy	Several mechanistic inaccuracies corrected, including the erroneous attribution of zoospore production to Fusarium species, water-deficit signalling described via stomatal closure and ABA rather than imprecise phrasing, and "impairs" corrected to "alters" regarding ROS signalling at infection sites	✓ Addressed
Evidence Strength & Claim Alignment	Claims regarding disease suppression and reduced fungicide dependence realigned with the actual level of field evidence available; more critical evaluation of evidence strength throughout	✓ Addressed
Citation Accuracy	Multiple instances identified where cited references did not support the associated claims (e.g., a global crop pathogen/pest analysis misapplied to orchard-specific loss estimates, a chlorine-sensitivity study misapplied to soil texture and pathogen movement, a reference on soil solarization, and a winter-oilseed study cited for an orchard-tree claim), together with evidence drawn from strawberry, nursery, and soilless systems requiring explicit labelling as outside the orchard system	✓ Addressed
Terminology & Scientific Expression	Unscientific or imprecise phrasing revised (e.g. "damaging pathogens", overhead sprinklers "worsen disease pressure", "genuinely new paradigm"); drip and subsurface drip irrigation reframed as reducing rather than "suppressing" disease risk; "Botrytis fruit rots" corrected to "Botrytis grey mould"; "phosphonic acid" corrected	✓ Addressed
Scientific & Nomenclature Formatting	Species abbreviation "spp." de-italicised; abbreviation RDI expanded on first use	✓ Addressed
Overgeneralised Statements	Broad, unsupported numerical and mechanistic claims (e.g. orchard disease loss estimates, root defensive competence under water stress) revised for scientific rigour and appropriately scoped	✓ Addressed
Coverage Gaps	Bacterial diseases incorporated where the pathogen scope was previously fungal-only; discussion of climate change in relation to decreased disease risk expanded	✓ Addressed
Visual & Structural Enhancement	Pictorial representations and tabular summaries added to improve the review; the "Irrigation–Disease Interactions: Mechanistic Underpinnings" section expanded with more detailed, specific, and recent research findings; disease-forecasting models (e.g. for Venturia inaequalis, fire blight, Botrytis) individually referenced	✓ Addressed
Typographical Corrections	Spelling errors corrected (e.g. "orchard", "integration") and a repeated use of "Phytophthora" removed; manuscript proofread throughout	✓ Addressed
Reference List Accuracy & Currency	Reference section checked thoroughly for correctness, with more recent references incorporated where appropriate	✓ Addressed

Category

Nature of Concern

Status

Scope & Balance

Irrigation methods to be clearly distinguished from irrigation strategies; reduced/deficit irrigation not to be presented as universally disease-suppressive; possibility that severe water stress can increase disease susceptibility to be incorporated

✓ Addressed

Pathogen-Specific Interpretation

Interpretation to be strengthened at the pathogen level, including clarification of whether Fusarium and Verticillium species respond similarly to soil moisture conditions with respect to disease development and pathogen activity

✓ Addressed

Mechanistic Accuracy

Several mechanistic inaccuracies corrected, including the erroneous attribution of zoospore production to Fusarium species, water-deficit signalling described via stomatal closure and ABA rather than imprecise phrasing, and "impairs" corrected to "alters" regarding ROS signalling at infection sites

✓ Addressed

Evidence Strength & Claim Alignment

Claims regarding disease suppression and reduced fungicide dependence realigned with the actual level of field evidence available; more critical evaluation of evidence strength throughout

✓ Addressed

Citation Accuracy

Multiple instances identified where cited references did not support the associated claims (e.g., a global crop pathogen/pest analysis misapplied to orchard-specific loss estimates, a chlorine-sensitivity study misapplied to soil texture and pathogen movement, a reference on soil solarization, and a winter-oilseed study cited for an orchard-tree claim), together with evidence drawn from strawberry, nursery, and soilless systems requiring explicit labelling as outside the orchard system

✓ Addressed

Terminology & Scientific Expression

Unscientific or imprecise phrasing revised (e.g. "damaging pathogens", overhead sprinklers "worsen disease pressure", "genuinely new paradigm"); drip and subsurface drip irrigation reframed as reducing rather than "suppressing" disease risk; "Botrytis fruit rots" corrected to "Botrytis grey mould"; "phosphonic acid" corrected

✓ Addressed

Scientific & Nomenclature Formatting

Species abbreviation "spp." de-italicised; abbreviation RDI expanded on first use

✓ Addressed

Overgeneralised Statements

Broad, unsupported numerical and mechanistic claims (e.g. orchard disease loss estimates, root defensive competence under water stress) revised for scientific rigour and appropriately scoped

✓ Addressed

Coverage Gaps

Bacterial diseases incorporated where the pathogen scope was previously fungal-only; discussion of climate change in relation to decreased disease risk expanded

✓ Addressed

Visual & Structural Enhancement

Pictorial representations and tabular summaries added to improve the review; the "Irrigation–Disease Interactions: Mechanistic Underpinnings" section expanded with more detailed, specific, and recent research findings; disease-forecasting models (e.g. for Venturia inaequalis, fire blight, Botrytis) individually referenced

✓ Addressed

Typographical Corrections

Spelling errors corrected (e.g. "orchard", "integration") and a repeated use of "Phytophthora" removed; manuscript proofread throughout

✓ Addressed

Reference List Accuracy & Currency

Reference section checked thoroughly for correctness, with more recent references incorporated where appropriate

✓ Addressed

Peer Review Statement

Journal of Sustainable Technology in Agriculture (JOSTA) employs a double-anonymous peer review process. The identities of authors and reviewers remain mutually confidential throughout the review and publication process. Reviewer reports and correspondence are not published.

Voluntary reviewer disclosure. JOSTA respects reviewers' autonomy regarding attribution. A reviewer who wishes to be identified in the published article may notify the editorial office at any point before final acceptance. Upon written consent, the reviewer's name and affiliation will be acknowledged in the Publication & Reviewer Details section of the article. Reviewers who do not provide consent remain anonymous and are listed as Anonymous. This policy is strictly voluntary; no reviewer is under any obligation to disclose their identity.

This page provides a transparent summary of the editorial and peer-review process in accordance with JOSTA's open-science commitments. It does not constitute a full disclosure of reviewer comments or author responses.