Progress 09/01/23 to 08/31/24

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience reached during this reporting period are commercial potato growers, crop consultants, agri-business personnel, IPM professionals, university cooperative extension educators, and colleagues from other institutions who focus on potato production and management. They have been reached through extension meetings, field days, research and industry meetings, and through digital outreach products like listservs and newsletters. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Technicians and undergraduate students are being trained in electropenetrography, data analysis, insect-identification, and pest scouting across various institutions. Graduate students have presented research at field days and research conferences. Post-doctoral researchers have also presented research at extension and scientific meetings, as well as developing new modelling techniques, research methodologies, and mentoring undergraduate students in data analysis and other experimental procedures. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Research has been presented at the Entomology Society of America annual conference in Phoenix, AZ; the Potato Association of America meeting in Portland, OR; the Wisconsin Seed Potato Industry Association; the Washington-Oregon Potato Conference in Pasco, WA, and the 2024 Potato Expo in Austin, Texas. In addition, researchers have given extension presentations and talked at field days in Maine, New York, Michigan and Washington, as well as a disease management seminar held in Antigo, WI. In addition, growers have been contacted directly with results through newsletters in MI and websites hosting pest models in CO and WA. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Objective.1: We will continue experiments on non-neonicotinoid insecticides for managing key potato pests as well as continue exploring non-neonicotinoid programs for managing vectors in both ware and seed potatoes. The testing of resistant potato germplasm will begin in the field in 2025. The insecticide trial data collected this summer will be analyzed and summarized to be shared at upcoming extension and scientific meetings. Objective 2: Researchers will continue to validate existing degree day models for key potato insect pests to ensure they can be effectively deployed on DAS or a related platform in each participating state. The goal is to expand DAS with the inclusion of other states outside of the PNW during the next reporting period. Objective 3: Our sociology team will conduct a listening session and focus group at the 2025 Potato Expo, and conduct in-depth interviews with potato growers, processors, and potato industry stakeholders in ME, NY, WI, and MI. Objective 4: To facilitate adoption of new pest management strategies among growers, researchers plan to hold in-person workshops in both large and small group settings on the Potato DAS as well as disseminate our findings from Objective 1 at upcoming extension meetings.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Objective 1: There was a coordinated replicated field plot trial in WA, ME, MI, WI and NY to compare the efficacy of non-neonicotinoid insecticide programs with a grower-standard neonicotinoid program and an unmanaged control. We assessed the abundance of Colorado Potato Beetle (CPB) life stages, leafhoppers, aphids, beneficials and other insects present during sampling, as well as defoliation weekly and measured potato yield at the end of the growing season. Using cyantraniliprole at planting, instead of a neonicotinoid, followed by a foliar novaluron application or applying isocycloseram foliarly instead of using at planting neonicotinoid resulted in lower CPB pressure and less defoliation compared to neonicotinoid insecticides. In WA, ME, MI, WI and NY we conducted another coordinated field experiment for managing PVY virus transmitted by aphids in seed potatoes. This experiment was completed, and results are currently being evaluated in a grow out trial. In WA, non-neonicotinoid insecticides were tested for efficacy against green peach aphids and potato leafroll virus. Three non-neonicotinoid treatments were effective at reducing potato leafroll virus inoculation in potato and acquisition by aphids from infected plants: afidopyropen, flonicamid, and pymetrozine. In MI, the potato breeding program tested CPB-resistant and PVY-resistant germplasms in greenhouse bioassays. Objective 2: The Decision Aid System (DAS) website added a CPB model and completed development of new models for potato tuberworm and beet leafhopper to be released in 2025. The DAS will be expanded to growers in the San Luis Valley, CO. A spray selection tool has been developed for the Pacific Northwest that allows users to get pesticide efficacy information. Phenological data collected from Objective 1 will be used for modeling. The potato DAS is used on over 90% of potato acreage in WA and in 2024, the pest prediction tools are estimated to have reduced sprays by 1.5 sprays/acre, which is a savings of $75/acre for growers, totaling $10mil across the area we serve. Objective 3: A comprehensive annotated bibliography exploring key topics was developed, including the history and chemistry of neonicotinoids, their environmental and health impacts, and their regulatory landscape across states was compiled for future use. A regulatory overview document was also developed to clarify U.S. regulations surrounding neonicotinoid use by state, which will help farmers and policymakers navigate compliance and consider alternatives in addition to illuminating the complex governance structures around neonicotinoids. A grower survey is being developed for PNW potato growers and market intermediaries (e.g., shippers, packers, processors) in early 2025. Objective 4: This objective if focused on the dissemination of information to stakeholders. We established a project website that will be the platform to disseminate all news and project related information and serve as a repository for outputs from the grant. We also worked with Potatoes USA to share information with the U.S. potato grower community, as a result a newsletter was sent out through their list serve information growers about our project. We also represented our project at their booth at the Potato Expo in 2024 allowing us the opportunity to inform stakeholders about the project.

Publications