Tequila is a Mexican alcoholic beverage made from the fermentation and distillation of the blue agave (Agave tequilana Weber var. azul) stem. This crop is affected by a wilt associated mainly with Fusarium oxysporum. This disease can produce considerable yield losses. Little is known about the spatial and temporal behaviour of blue agave wilt. In this work, the spatial and temporal dynamics of the disease in commercial blue agave plantations in the state of Jalisco, Mexico, were analysed. Four fields of approximately 1 ha were selected in the municipalities of Arandas and Magdalena, in which disease assessments were carried out over a year of evaluation. Each plant was categorized based on a scale with four severity classes (healthy plant, severity class 1, severity class 2 and severity class 3). Maps of disease distribution were made. The spatial pattern was analysed by means of four indicators of spatial variation for binomial data; the spatial and temporal variation was analysed by means of transition matrices. An aggregate spatial pattern was observed in all fields. The transitions in severity classes were not completely unidirectional; some plants showed symptom remission between the date of first and second disease assessment, while others remained at their original severity. Severity class 1 occurred most frequently in Arandas fields (from 12.9% to 40.3%). There was a notable increase in wilt severity to class 2 in the Magdalena fields (from 4% to 50.6%). The rates of disease development towards severity class 3 are low and do not suppose a significant loss for the crop; nevertheless, the rates of disease development towards the wilt severity class 2 do put in risk the health of the crop and the availability of the raw material for the making of tequila.
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