Program: Partnership Project Title: New England Fruit and Vegetable Scouting Network Project Type: IPM Issues Project Director: Katie Campbell-Nelson, University of Massachusetts Co-PDs: Ann Hazelrigg, University of Vermont, and Andy Radin, University of Rohde Island Start Date: April, 1st, 2014 End Date: February 28th, 2016 Funding: $49,487 Funds leveraged as a result of this project: $582,000 Number of People Reached as a result of this project: 2,118 people reached so far. Summary

Both established and beginning farmers of diversified vegetable and fruit farms in New England have requested training and tools to help them with whole-farm Integrated Pest Management (IPM). In particular, farmers ask for on-farm training in procedures to monitor pests as well as pest advisories tailored to reflect the pest pressure on their own farms and in their local area as well as on a regional scale. This project addresses the need for a scouting and pest advisory network that spans the range of climate zones from north to south in New England and is responsive to seasonal fluctuations in weather and crop conditions. Using field walks and weekly scouting visits at sentinel farms in Vermont, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, we provide growers with hands-on training in IPM methods for key pests and/or diseases in vegetable and fruit crops. With data gathered using consistent, multi-state (VT, MA and RI) weekly scouting protocols, we have developed a pest advisory system that is suited to each state's needs and also linked among states. For Vermont and Rhode Island, this has established a foundation for regular IPM pest advisories in fruit and vegetable crops. The impact of field walk training, scouting and the pest advisory system will be to prepare the next generation of IPM farm scouts to be familiar with pest life cycles and able to use available tools to make educated decisions in IPM with a better regional network of pest information.

Problem, Background, and Justification

In New England, of all operators with 10 years or less of farming experience, fewer than 10% are jointly operating a farm with an experienced operator1. This indicates that most beginning farmers in New England do not have the benefit of learning to farm with experienced growers,

1 United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service. 2013. Beginning Farmers and Ranchers at a Glance: http://www.ers.usda.gov/media/988138/eb-22.pdf

including learning pest life cycles and management strategies. County extension agents working directly with farms locally are no longer part of the Cooperative Extension Systems in MA, RI and VT. In general, farmers in New England lack direct, local scouting assistance yet are balancing a larger diversity of crops than in the past. Farmers are turning more to web-based resources for their information, but they also need direct experience to learn pest scouting methods. The farmers involved in this project will benefit economically by gaining training for their farm workers, and contribute to a healthier environment by avoiding harmful actions such as unnecessary pesticide applications. Training in field scouting methods combined with access to tools to help identify critical monitoring periods including site-specific pest advisories, will greatly assist New England farmers in their IPM strategies.

Fruit and vegetable farmers are now producing 42%, 26.5%, 10.6% of the total market value of agricultural products sold in MA, RI, and VT respectively2. The Rhode Island Agricultural Partnership has identified “business and technical support to farmers,” particularly to beginning farmers, as a key priority in its Five Year Strategic Plan of May 20113. In Massachusetts, during the 2014 growing season, we provided direct on-farm training for over 100 beginning farmers and farmworkers who, in evaluation surveys, valued the training and requested more. In particular they want to know the local seasonal progression of pests on various crops and how to scout to make timely decisions. Beginning farmers in Vermont continually request more assistance with pest and disease identification, typically listing this as the most critical weakness in their skills. The above information indicates that RI, MA, and VT diversified fruit and vegetable growers have much to gain from this project.

We chose to begin this project in the states of RI, MA, and VT to cover a range of pest climates in New England, strengthen IPM training where it is most needed, and build collaboration within the region. The weekly scouting occurring in each state will provide a regional set of pest information pertinent to a variety of crops. The same scouting process and collaborations can easily be implemented in further New England states as funding becomes available.

Objectives The objectives of this project are to:

1) Train over 200 farmers in RI, MA, and VT in scouting techniques for key pests during the 2014 and 2015 growing seasons on a diversity of vegetable and fruit crops.

2) Further develop a web-based pest advisory system that includes data from multiple states and disseminate the information to > 1,500 subscribers.

2 USDA Census of Agriculture, 2012: http://www.agcensus.usda.gov/Publications/2012/ 3Rhode Island Agricultural Partnership 5-year Plan: http://www.farmland.org/documents/RI_agriculture_5yr_strategicplan.pdf

Approach and Procedures In both years of this project, we proposed to train fruit and vegetable growers in scouting techniques on a weekly basis during the growing season. Five ‘sentinel’ farms were selected in the three states to cover a broad geographic region; two in northern VT, one in western MA, one in central MA and one in southern RI. Farms were selected for scouting based on several criteria: they must grow a diversity of fruit and vegetable crops, be willing to scout 3-6 crops on a weekly basis, have access to weather station data, and be connected with a large grower network who would attend field walks interested in learning more IPM practices. In April and May of 2014, Campbell-Nelson (project PI) visited each sentinel farm in the 3 states to conduct intake interviews with the scouts, Co-PI’s, and farmers to establish the crops and pests of greatest importance to each farm and therefore the focus of scouting. Katie Campbell-Nelson, Ruth Hazzard and Sonia Schloemann (UMass) developed scouting sheets with

detailed sampling protocols that were used in all states for monitoring alliums, brassicas, cucurbits, solanaceous crops, sweet corn, and strawberries. Project PI’s used funds to purchase and install traps for European corn borer, corn earworm, fall armyworm, and squash vine borer for use on sentinel farms and each state hired and trained an IPM scout to work with the co-PI in that state. Weekly scouting occurred from May –September where the PI’s met with farmers and farm crews to train them in field monitoring methods and collected pest data for distribution in pest alerts. Pest data collected included average pest counts from samples taken during scouting, photos, weather station data, trap counts, and notes on observations all loaded into an online database accessible by all project members (3 PI’s and 3 field scouts). At the end of each scouting visit, the farmer and crew received a detailed IPM-based report for pest management. Each Wednesday morning, all PI’s and field scouts (6 people) held a conference call to review pest data collected that week and determine which alerts should be sent to the mailing lists in each state. We linked weather station data, NEWA pest forecast models, and data from pest tracking sites such as CDM IPM-Pipe and USABlight.org to our observed pest conditions as appropriate. On Thursdays, pest alerts were sent to the Vegetable Notes mailing list in MA, the Vermont Vegetable and Berry Growers mailing list in VT and a new list of growers was developed by Andy Radin in RI. Sentinel farms in each state hosted a field walk inviting a larger audience of growers to learn field scouting methods.

Fig 1. Locations of the 5 sentinel farms: 1 in Rohde Island, 2 in Massachusetts and 2 in Vermont.

Table 1. Crops and pests described by the 5 sentinel farms as their priorities.

Progress

Farmers we worked with in this project identified many different crops and pests as their priorities for scouting training and improved pest management (Table 1). In some cases, the farmer was uncertain of the problem they faced and their goal was to identify the issue such as “multiple diseases” or “caterpillars”. In response to the diversity of grower needs, we developed nine new, detailed scouting sheets for allium, brassica, cucurbit, eggplant, pepper, potato, strawberry, sweetcorn, and tomato. Next year we hope to develop scouting protocols for blueberry, raspberry, carrot and beet family crops. Over the summer, at least 10 scouting visits were made to each sentinel farm where farmers, crew members and apprentices (15 people) received 1-2 hours of training per visit. After each visit, a detailed report of the scouting with IPM recommendations was sent to the grower (Appendix 1. Sample Scouting Report). Field walks were hosted at each farm throughout the summer with 103 attendees total (Table 2). At

each field walk attendees were trained to scout 2-3 crops followed by a discussion of IPM actions to be taken with input from the grower and Extension staff. Lisa McKeag (UMass Scout) and Andy Radin (URI) developed disease and insect ID guides for onion, cucurbits and potato to use as training tools at Field Walks along with the new scouting sheets (Appendix 2. Allium Pest ID and Scouting Sheet).

We used a self-assessment tool to measure changes in IPM knowledge and in expected use of practices before and after each field walk and evaluated the project’s impact on farmers and readers of pest alerts (Appendix 3. Evaluation). Knowledge was rated on a four-part scale from ‘none’ to ‘considerable’; practices on a four-part scale from ‘never’ to ‘always’. Surveys of Field

Crop Pest

Brassicas (broccoli, cabbage)

Imported cabbageworm, Diamondback moth, Cabbage looper, Caterpillars, Cabbage root maggot, Alternaria, Black rot, Flea beetle

Beet and Swiss chard Cercospora and leaf miner Blueberries Spotted wing drosophila Cucurbits (cucumbers, summer and winter squash)

Weeds, Striped cucumber beetles Multiple diseases

Onion Purple blotch, thrips, Leek moth

Pepper European corn borer

Potato Potato leaf hopper, Multiple diseases

Raspberry Potato leaf hopper, Spotted wing drosophila

Strawberry Tarnished plant bug

Sweet corn European corn borer, Corn ear worm, Fall armyworm

Tomato Hornworm, Multiple diseases, Early blight, Late blight

Table 2. Field walks took place at one sentinel farm in VT and RI and in 3 locations in MA.

Walk attendees revealed increases in knowledge as a result of participating and a high likelihood that they would implement the practices learned at the field walks on their own.

Surveys of the 2,000 Pest Alerts readers indicated increased knowledge and implementation of IPM although response rate of this audience was low (136 people). Interviews with the 5 sentinel farmers in May and September of 2014 indicated a change in behavior including more scouting, with greater accuracy and confidence for

implementing IPM practices. See ‘Outcomes’ and ‘Impacts’ section for more details.

Breakdown of leveraged funds and people reached $582,000 over 3 years were leveraged through the NIFA Crop Protection and Pest management Grant (Hilary Sandler, UMass Project Director) partially as a result of this project to work more directly with diversified fruit and vegetable growers in Massachusetts to train them in IPM and develop mentoring relationships with growers as well as to implement on-farm trials to research IPM strategies.

As a direct result of the ‘New England Fruit and Vegetable Scouting Network’, 15 people were trained on a weekly basis to scout in fields in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Vermont. In these same fields, 103 people attended Field Walks and learned to scout multiple crops in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Vermont in the summer of 2014. An additional 2,000 people received Pest Alerts throughout New England on a weekly basis between May and September, 2014. Outcomes

2014 date Location Attendees Crops scouted July 2nd Amherst, MA 12 Brassicas,

Cucurbits, Potato July 9th Saunderstown,

RI 25 Brassicas,

Cucumber August 14th

Putney, VT 12 Onion, Cucurbits, Tomato

August 22nd

Orange, MA 30 Raspberry, Winter Squash, Brassicas

Multiple Pelham, MA 24 Raspberry, Brassicas, Summer Squash, Celery, Tomato, Bean

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Figure 2. Sentinel farmer responses about knowledge of IPM concepts before and after participating in the New England Fruit and Vegetable Scouting Network.

Figure 3. Sentinel farmer responses to IPM practices implemented before and after participating in the New England Fruit and Vegetable Scouting Network.

Nine of the 15 farm managers, farm workers and farm apprentices who were trained in scouting on a weekly basis completed a survey of their experiences (Figs. 2 and 3). Among the farmer comments included: “I would measure change not so much in how often I use these techniques, but in how we have improved the quality of the information that we gather. That improvement has been considerable.” And “This was an incredible learning experience and an opportunity that I feel so grateful to have been a part of.”

Sixty nine of the 103 people attending Field Walks completed surveys (Figs. 4 and 5). Thirty three of the respondents identified themselves as growers, and a large percent of the

remaining attendees considered themselves “gardeners” or “apprentices”. We are confident that the intended audience of beginning growers was reached for this project. Among the Field Walk attendee comments included: “I like your new scouting sheets”, “’Shop talk’ from in situ growers was excellent!!!”, “I was not

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Figure 4. Responses to surveys from attendees about knowledge of IPM concepts before and after participating in Field Walks.

aware that IPM methods could be used by organic growers. I had always thought IPM meant using some conventional pesticides.”, “I will plant more disease and pest resistant varieties next year”, “I learned how to calculate an economic threshold for Brassica caterpillars!”, and “Great information presented very well – I will definitely use and teach scouting to others”

Only 136 of the 2,000 people receiving Pest Alerts responded to surveys (Figs 6 and 7). We asked this audience about their knowledge gain regarding “low risk pest management strategies” instead of about “Pest Alerts” because they were already reading the publication therefore knew something about it. Comments from Pest Alerts readers included: “I like having a heads up as to what might be happening in our region and what is happening elsewhere. Also things aren't always what the picture books tell you, it’s easy to jump to conclusions, but the Extension staff is always there to help with specific problem in my specific context.”, “A big benefit is being made aware of issues around the state, before they hit home. Great service, keep it up!”, “It doesn't look like I learned anything but I did and was reminded to scout for different pests as the notifications came through which was very important.”, “Pest alerts have been tremendously helpful in keeping alerted to possible problems before they arrive.”, “Reading is very helpful, there's just so much info that I need to re-read over the winter to really get it into my head. The alerts and info are invaluable!”, “Pest alerts were useful to our farm because we read them together on a weekly basis at lunch, and we were all on the same page as to what pests we were watching for on the farm at any given point in the season.”, “Regional differences in pest pressures helped me evaluate the risk in my area.”, “I learned

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Figure 5. Responses to surveys from Field Walk attendees about IPM practices they followed before attending and planned to implement after participating.

about pests I didn't even know existed yet.”, “I have a little more courage to actually use pest management techniques at all, vs. just feeling overwhelmed & afraid of all chemical use.”, “We are putting your suggestions into practice for our decision making on our farm every day.” and, “Thank you”.

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Figure 6. Responses to surveys from Pest Alert readers about knowledge of IPM concepts before and after reading alerts.

Figure 7. Responses to surveys from Pest Alert readers about IPM practices they followed before and after reading alerts.

Impacts

Safeguarding human health and the environment: This project directly impacted 150 acres of fruit and vegetable farmland on 5 farms in MA, RI and VT. Reduced risk pesticide and other IPM strategies implemented on these 5 farms included:

A. Improved timing of pesticide applications on crops that were not well managed previously by using monitoring, for example; forecasting models for cabbage root maggot or USAblight.org for monitoring Late Blight progress improved cabbage yields and salvaged potato yields respectively on one farm.

B. Correct identification of pests including insect life stages resulted in better pest control, for example, first instar Colorado potato beetles were effectively treated with Entrust (a.i. spinosad) at a threshold of 4 small larvae per stalk on two farms.

C. Using traps to monitor pests such as Squash Vine Borer and European corn borer (ECB) resulted in better timing for the release of the parasitoidTricogramma wasp to control ECB in Peppers and Sweet corn on three farms.

D. Improved sprayer mixing and calibration for better pest control, for example, not tank-mixing Surround (a.i. kaolin clay) with other incompatible materials such as copper in the tank to reduce clogging of equipment was successful on one farm.

Much more acreage was impacted by this project as indicated by the high rates of IPM implementation among the 69 Field Walk survey respondents and 136 Pest Alert reader survey respondents. Over and over, participants in this project expressed how helpful Pest Alerts were to their operation and how they helped ease the anxiety associated with pest management decisions, as one respondent said; “I have a little more courage to actually use pest management techniques at all, vs. just feeling overwhelmed & afraid of all chemical use.”

Economic benefits: Four scouts were hired in MA, RI and VT to conduct the weekly scouting on farms, train farmers and apprentices, and develop Pest Alerts for regional dissemination. These four scouts were given valuable job training and gained direct field experience through this project. They also benefitted greatly from the weekly conference calls in which the project directors and field scouts compared notes of field observations for publication in Pest Alerts. Project directors also benefited greatly from more peer-to-peer communication. For example, Ann Hazelrigg in VT is a plant pathologist who gave helpful tips to the group for disease management, while Andy Radin is trained as an entomologist and was helpful in preparing Pest Alerts for insect management, and Katie Campbell-Nelson was involved in several field trials which supported research based pest management recommendations. While this increased collaboration may not translate directly into economic benefits, the jobs training, and peer-learning certainly improved our skillsets and the quality of our work.

Economic benefits to the growers included the following, in their own words:

A. “I learned how to calculate an economic threshold for Brassica caterpillars!” B. “I will plant more disease and pest resistant varieties next year” C. “Pest alerts have been tremendously helpful in keeping us alerted to possible problems

before they arrive.” D. “We are putting your suggestions into practice for our decision making on our farm

every day.” Direct economic benefits to growers were not measured as impacts of this project, however, the high rates of IPM implementation by the survey respondents indicate that the practices they learned about are valuable to their operations and will improve their economic vitality.

Implementation of IPM: Project directors trained 15 farmers and apprentices on 5 farms in monitoring 11 different fruit and vegetable crops with over 30 different pest problems (Table. 1) to make informed Integrated Pest Management decisions on their farms. All 5 farms were either certified Organic or followed organic farming practices, and a significant change in perspective regarding IPM use on organic farms was expressed by one of the Field Walk attendees: “I was not aware that IPM methods could be used by organic growers. I had always thought IPM meant using some conventional pesticides.”

Many acres were impacted by this project based on the 69 responses of Field Walk attendees (Fig. 5) who planned to “usually” or “always” implement scouting and monitoring (71%), use forecasting or pheromone trapping (33%), base pest management decisions on scouting, monitoring (62%), and regional Pest Alerts (45%). A further 136 Pest Alerts readers “usually” or “always” implement scouting and monitoring (71%), use forecasting or pheromone trapping (47%), base pest management decisions on scouting, monitoring (75%), and regional Pest Alerts (69%).

Twenty Pest Alerts were published as a result of this project from May-September, 2014 with timely information on diversified fruit and vegetable crops. This was a first time Pest Alerts were published for the Vermont Vegetable and Berry Growers mailing list, and a new mailing list was developed for growers in Rhode Island. This was also the first time that the UMass “Vegetable Notes” publication included regular regional pest information from Rhode Island and Vermont. The scope of the pest alerts were broad, covering crops such as Swiss chard to sweet corn to strawberries in order to reflect the diversity of crops grown by most of our New England growers. Over 2,000 growers across New England benefited from this project by receiving Pest Alerts on a weekly basis during the main growing season and a high percentage of them are implementing IPM as a result.

Scout Name Katie Katie Scouting Date 6/6/2014 6/6/2014 Town Orange Orange State MA MA Farm Name Farm School Farm School Farmer Name Tyson Neukirch and Carlen Rigrod Tyson Neukirch and Carlen Rigrod Field Name Flat Field Flat Field Crop type or family brassica brassica Crop cabbage cabbage Cultivar/s Murdock, Farrao, Super Red 80, Murdock, Farrao, Super Red 80, Pest Type (Insect, disease, vertebrate, abiotic, don't know) insect insect Pest cabbage root maggot imported cabbageworm

Observations

Murdock:2 eggs, 2 maggots, 3 root damage out of 10 plants scouted. Farao: 2 eggs, 0 maggots, 3 root damage out of 10 plants scouted Super Red 80: 6 eggs, 0 maggots, no root damage out of 10 plants scouted. Caraflex: 12 eggs, 0 maggots no root damage out of 10 plants. Control: 6 eggs, 6 maggots, 6 root damage out of 10 plants. 3 ICW found on one Caraflex.

Recommendations

Treatments 3 and 4 receiving Entrust about 5 days after peak adult flight (just as maggots were emerging) have the least root damage. However, pressure was low overall and cabbage looks great. The first generation flight for CRM is over in your area… No need to worry until Fall rooting brassica season! Remove row cover from Murdock and cultivate.

Scout for singly laid eggs on the underside of leaves or caterpillars that are gray-green, slightly fuzzy, and sluggish. Grows to > 1 inch and favors the center of the head as it gets larger.

Appendix 1. Sample Scouting Report

Scout Name Katie Katie Scouting Date 6/6/2014 6/6/2014 Town Orange Orange State MA MA Farm Name Farm School Farm School Farmer Name Tyson Neukirch and Carlen Rigrod Tyson Neukirch and Carlen Rigrod Field Name North Orange North Orange Crop type or family allium allium Crop onion onion Cultivar/s Leeks Leeks Pest Type (Insect, disease, vertebrate, abiotic, don't know) insect insect Pest thrips onion root maggot

Observations

Onions average 5-7 leaf stage. Thrips found well below threshold nymphs and adults.

GDD Base 40 for 6/5/14 is 809 at the Orange Municipal Airport. You are past peak flight for this pest, so the majority of eggs have been laid. Most of the damage from maggots should be occurring now. We found 3 maggots out of a total 120 plants randomly scouted by students! This is well below threshold of one maggot per plant.

Recommendations

Continue scouting weekly until you reach the threshold of 1-3 thrips/leaf. Use Entrust at threshold with an adjuvant such as NuFilm. Make application near the evening to target night feeding of thrips. Katie will bring more scouting sheets next time.

If soils remain cool and wet, continue to watch for maggot damage.

Scout Name Katie Scouting Date 6/6/2014 Town Orange State MA Farm Name Farm School Farmer Name Tyson Neukirch and Carlen Rigrod Field Name Flat Field Crop type or family chenopodeacia Crop swiss chard Cultivar/s Rainbow Pest Type (Insect, disease, vertebrate, abiotic, don't know) insect Pest leaf miner

Observations

Many eggs and some leaf tunneling seen. (see image)

Recommendations

No threshold in the New England Veg Guide, however, an application of 2-3 oz /acre of Entrust with an adjuvant is recommended. 1 day to harvest in Swiss Chard.

Scouting Guide for IPM Field Walk, High Meadows Farm, August 14, 2014 MAJOR INSECT PESTS OF ONION Thrips (Thrips tabaci) are tiny insects that range in color from yellow to black and are only 1/16” in length. They spend the winter as adults in crop remnants, alfalfa, wheat, greenhouses and weeds along the border of crop fields. Adults lay eggs singly, nymphs feed on leaves, and pupation occurs in the soil. There are at least two generations per year in the Northeast. Thrips have rasping mouth parts which they use to tear open plant cells to feed on plant juices. Populations are favored by hot, dry weather. Heavy rain or overhead irrigation can lower populations. In onions feeding occurs in protected, succulent areas where new leaves are emerging, deep between the leaf blades. Damage may appear as silver lines, white patches, tip dieback, curling and twisting of leaves, slowed growth, reduced bulb size and yields, or if severe enough can result in plant death. Plants are most sensitive when bulbs are forming. Thrips damage can increase occurrence of purple blotch (Alternaria porri), as fungus can penetrate the plant through wounds caused by feeding. Leek Moth (Acrolepiopsis assectella Zeller) adults are small, reddish-brown with a white triangular mark on the middle of the folded wings. The hindwings of the moth are heavily fringed and are pale to dark grey. Eggs are iridescent white, 0.4 mm in diameter and difficult to detect. Larvae are yellowish-green with a pale brown head capsule and eight small grey spots on each abdominal segment. At maturity, larvae reach 13-14 mm in length. The reddish brown pupa is encased in a loosely netted cocoon. Most cocoons are found on host plants. Leek moth is a pest in Ontario, Quebec, New York, and Northern Vermont but not yet in other parts of the northeast. Larvae can cause extensive damage by tunneling mines and feeding on leaf tissue and occasionally on bulbs. On alliums with flat leaves, including leeks and garlic, larvae feed on top of and inside the leaf material. They bore through folded leaves towards the center of the plant, causing a series of pinholes on the inner leaves. Larval mines in the central leaves become longitudinal grooves in the mature plant. Leek moth larvae enter hollow leaves, such as those of onions and chives, to feed internally, creating translucent "windows" on the plant surface. Affected plants may appear distorted and are more susceptible to plant pathogens. In general, damage is more prevalent near field perimeters. Onion Maggot flies spend the winter as small brown pupae in the soil. Adults emerge in spring and can travel considerable distances in search of host plants (1/2 to 1 mile). Female flies seek out their host crop to lay eggs at the base of the stem. Cool, moist soil conditions favor survival of the eggs, and soil temperatures over 95 F kill them. When the soil temperatures in the upper ½ to 1 inch are high (>100 degrees F) that soil temperature itself then provides control. There are three generations each year. Emergence of this pest is similar to cabbage root maggot which coincides with blooming of the common roadside weed, yellow rocket. When eggs hatch, larvae feed on roots and can cause complete destruction of the root system. In onions, newly hatched larvae crawl behind the leaf sheath and enter the bulb, and feed on the roots, stem, and developing bulb. Feeding damage also encourages entry of soft rot pathogens.

M. Klepack, UVM M. Klepack, UVM Omafra.net Omafra.net

D.Ferro, UMass

R.Hazzard, UMass S.Scheufele, UMass A N. Sparks, Jr.

Appendix 2. Allium Pest ID and Scouting Sheet

MAJOR DISEASES OF ONION Botrytis Leaf Blight (Botrytis squamosal) overwinters in onion cull piles, on onion leaf debris, or as sclerotia (survival structures) in the soil. The pathogen sporulates and conidia (spores) are spread by wind; if there is sufficient leaf wetness and moderate temperatures (72-75˚ F) infection occurs. Infection frequency increases with the increasing leaf wetness duration. Older or senescent leaves are more susceptible to blighting. Severely affected fields will appear blighted with most leaves dead and desiccated. Losses in yield occur because of smaller bulb size resulting from premature leaf senescence. Purple Blotch (Alternaria porri) overwinters on infected bulbs and debris, and can be seedborne. Symptoms appear on leaves as small water-soaked lesions with white centers. Zones may appear as the spot enlarges and the lesion turns brown to purplish. In moist weather, the spot's surface usually becomes covered with dark powdery fungal growth. Leaves with large spots turn yellow and blow over in wind. Older leaves, and thrips feeding or other injury increases susceptibility. Spores require rain or dew to cause infection. Optimum temperatures are 77 to 81°F. Almost no infection occurs below 55°F. Bulbs may become infected at harvest through the neck or wounds. Decay shows first as a watery rot around the neck causing yellowish to wine-red discoloration and as it moves through the scales, tissue dries to a papery texture. Downy Mildew (Pernospora destructor) infection occurs in high leaf wetness usually below 75°F. Symptoms are first seen on older leaves while dew is present. Infected leaves have 1-12 inch long pale patches and greyish violet furry spores may be visible. The pathogen over-winters in volunteer onion plants as oospores, or as mycelium in stored bulbs or seed. Infected bulbs become soft and shriveled, some sprouting prematurely. White Rot (Sclerotium cepivorum) activity is favored by cool soils and is restricted above 75°F. It produces hardy sclerotia which persist in soil for years. Disease is spread by movement of infected soil and plants. Pathogen activity increases with root development and foliage symptoms develop after the pathogen grows into the stem plate or bulb. Leaves yellow and die prematurely, plants become stunted, and rapid death of all foliage follows. A fluffy mycelium on the stem plate and bulb is seen and small sclerotia (0.02 inch) form in and on the surface of the bulb, often around the neck. White rot can continue to decay bulbs in storage if humidity is not kept low. Fusarium Basal Rot (Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cepae) infects onion, garlic, shallot, and chives. It is commonly found in the soil and persists there for long periods. The pathogen is disseminated widely by infected onion sets and garlic cloves. Plants can be infected at any stage of growth with injury of roots, basal plate, or bulb by onion maggot and other insects. The first symptoms are yellowing, curving, and necrosis of leaves beginning at the tips and progressively developing downward. Infected plants may wilt and affected bulbs appear brown and watery when cut open. The disease progresses from the stem plate up and the roots will eventually rot. Bulbs may exhibit no disease at harvest, but subsequently decay in storage. Sour Skin (Pseudomonas (Burkholderia) cepacia) losses appear in storage, but infection usually occurs in the field. Primary symptoms include a light brown decay of one or a few inner bulb scales. The bulbs appear intact and remain firm, but rot proceeds internally. This bacterium is found in soil and water or as a pathogen of plants and/or animals. It exists as pathovars or strains. Infection occurs through a wound after bulb formation or when contaminated water flows down the neck. Development is favored by high temperatures. Season-long overhead irrigation provides a favorable environment.

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M. L. Macy, MSU

New England Fruit and Vegetable Scouting Network End of season evaluation

RI, MA and VT Name: ______________ Farm:________________________

Listed below are concepts we covered during our regular scouting visits to your farm this year. On the left, please indicate how much knowledge you had about these concepts presented before working with us. On the right, please indicate how much knowledge you now have after working with us.

Knowledge BEFORE CONCEPT Knowledge AFTER

NONE MINIMAL MODERATE CONSIDERABLE Pest life cycles NONE MINIMAL MODERATE CONSIDERABLE

NONE MINIMAL MODERATE CONSIDERABLE Pest scouting and monitoring methods NONE MINIMAL MODERATE CONSIDERABLE

NONE MINIMAL MODERATE CONSIDERABLE “Pest Alerts” NONE MINIMAL MODERATE CONSIDERABLE

NONE MINIMAL MODERATE CONSIDERABLE Other: describe below NONE MINIMAL MODERATE CONSIDERABLE

Other Comments: ______

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___________________________________________________________________ Listed below are practices we covered during our regular scouting visits to your farm this year. On the left, please indicate to what degree you already used these practices before working with us. On the right, please indicate to what degree you use these practices now, after working with us.

BEFORE Practice AFTER

NEVER OCCASIONALLY USUALLY ALWAYS Scout for pests in the field NEVER OCCASIONALLY USUALLY ALWAYS

NEVER OCCASIONALLY USUALLY ALWAYS Use a monitoring tool (ex:

traps or pest weather forecasting models)

NEVER OCCASIONALLY USUALLY ALWAYS

NEVER OCCASIONALLY USUALLY ALWAYS Base pest management

decisions on scouting and monitoring

NEVER OCCASIONALLY USUALLY ALWAYS

NEVER OCCASIONALLY USUALLY ALWAYS Use “Pest Alerts” to make pest management decisions NEVER OCCASIONALLY USUALLY ALWAYS

NEVER OCCASIONALLY USUALLY ALWAYS Other: describe below NEVER OCCASIONALLY USUALLY ALWAYS

Other Comments: ______

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Appendix 3. Evaluation