Progress 05/01/05 to 04/30/08
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Implementation of IPM: a. The IPM strategy of perimeter trap cropping with buttercup squash, as opposed to Blue Hubbard squash, was validated in small plot tests and on-farm trials. b. Articles have been published in UMass Vegetable Notes every year since 2005; and in proceedings of vegetable conferences including the Mid Atlantic Vegetable and Fruit Convention (Hershey PA) 2007, New England Vegetable and Fruit Conference (Manchester NH 2005), New York State Vegetable and Fruit Convention (2007). At five on-farm workshops, articles describing the PTC system were distributed (2005-2008). c. Approximately 900 growers/personnel were trained. d. On the UMass Vegetable Program website, PTC articles and presentations have been posted since 2006 (http://www.umassvegetable.org/soil_crop_pest_mgt/insect_mgt/cucumber _beetle_striped.html) e. Regionally, 150 people people adopted IPM practices or new IPM practices as a result of our project. f. By providing a more marketable alternative to Blue Hubbard as a border crop, our goal was to make PTC more attractive to a greater number of growers in our area. PARTICIPANTS: This grant fostered a collaboration with Dr. Fathi Halaweish, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, South Dakota State University, who analyzed cucurbitacins in our samples. Individuals supported or partially supported by this grant included: Dr. Nina Theis, postdoctoral researcher, Andy Cavanagh, MS student, and Monica Messer, technician. The grant also provided numerous opportunities for undergraduates to be involved in research. The questions in this grant inspired an honors thesis by Elizabeth Andrews that was published in the Journal of Chemical Ecology (see publications), and Liz is now pursuing a PhD in medical entomology. In addition, the following students had the opportunity to gain research experience as assistants with this project: Katie Bouley (now in graduate school, sports physiology), Stephanie Brindle (now in graduate school, environmental studies), Mai Tran, and Amber O'Reilly TARGET AUDIENCES: The target audience for our efforts was cucurbit growers in Massachusetts. However, the IPM method of perimeter trap cropping that we tested could very easily be applied to cucurbit farms elsewhere, and to other crops in Massachusetts. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: There were no major changes, other than the one-year extension we requested due to the birth of the PI's son in 2006.
Impacts
Our experimental farm trials suggested that both buttercup squash and zucchini are potential trap crops for butternut squash that could replace Blue Hubbard, which is an effective trap crop but has a limited market. Our on-farm research showed that buttercup squash is as effective as Blue Hubbard as a trap crop; the use of either trap crop reduced pesticide use by over 90% compared to conventional farming methods with equivalent control of the striped cucumber beetle, the major pest in this system. Notably, we found that butternut squash yield was not limited by pollination in either our experimental farm or on-farm studies, and that the vast majority of pollinating visits were by native bees rather than honey bees. This is good news for growers given recent concerns about declines in honey bees and the economic costs of loss of pollination services. This grant fostered a collaboration between Ruth Hazzard and Lynn Adler that has led to the submission and award of a USDA NRI grant to study how root and leaf herbivory, pollination, and mycorrhizae interact to affect yield in cucumber: USDA NRI 2008-02346. "The community ecology of crop yield: Management of herbivory, pollination and mycorrhizal interactions in cucumber." L. S. Adler (PD), E. T. Kiers (co-PD), R. Hazzard (co-PD). 1/15/09-1/14/12. $437,706. H. Impacts 1. Safeguarding human health and the environment: a. The use of perimeter trap cropping (PTC hereafter), the subject of this grant, has been and continues to be adopted by growers in the area. This technique could be used on most squash and pumpkin acreage, which accounted for approximately 4500 acres in Massachusetts alone. b. The use of PTC resulted in pesticide reductions of over 90% with equivalent beetle control, due to the need to spray a much smaller part of the field (borders only) and sometimes due to needing fewer sprays. Thus, there is greatly reduced risk. Our study provided new, more marketable alternatives to PTC with Blue Hubbard, which should lead to greater acceptance and adoption of this practice. Also, by conducting on-farm research at 21 farms, this research introduced several new growers to PTC. 2. Economic benefits: a. The reduction in pesticide use (over 90% reduction compared to conventional full-field sprays) can save growers hundreds of dollars per year. All growers who were introduced to the system are still using it, and we see signs that its use is spreading in our area. For example, we recently held a twilight meeting at a farm in eastern Massachusetts. We had never worked directly with this farm to implement PTC. We found that they had used PTC and adapted it to their needs by planting Giant Pumpkin, Cucurbita maxima, around their pumpkin field.
Publications
- Adler, LS and RV Hazzard. 2009. A comparison of perimeter trap crop varieties: Effects on herbivory, pollination and yield in butternut squash. Environmental Entomology.
- Andrews, ES, Theis, N and LS Adler. 2007. Pollinator and herbivore attraction to Cucurbita floral volatiles. Journal of Chemical Ecology 33:1682-1691.
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Progress 05/01/06 to 04/30/07
Outputs
Our proposal involved 2 summers of field research investigating how perimeter trap crops affect herbivory, pollination and yield in butternut squash. Both of these field studies are complete, with the exception of compiling pesticide records from the on-farm study in Year 2. The proposal included a third objective of completing a greenhouse and field study attempting to determine chemical or physical traits of cucurbit crops that relate to herbivore resistance and pollinator attraction. This study is largely complete, but some of the final data has not been collected. In particular, the chemical analysis of cucurbitacin analysis, which is supposed to be completed by a collaborator, has not been complete and so we have not yet paid for this analysis. Pollen still needs to be counted from these samples as well, which is a job currently being completed by undergraduate workers in the lab. Finally, much of the collected data is in the process of being entered and proofread
before being analyzed and written up for publication.
Impacts
Our study will (1) determine the relative importance of herbivory and pollination for butternut yield in western Massachusetts, (2) suggest alternative perimeter trap crops to give growers options for non-pesticides ways to effectively reduce pest damage, and (3) determine traits that may be responsible for pest resistance and pollinator attraction that could be selected in future breeding programs or used in designing field production or pest management strategies. Preliminary results suggest that both zucchini and Cucurbita maxima species may make effective perimeter trap crops, giving growers a summer squash as well as winter squash option for reducing pesticide use while controlling pest damage.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 05/01/05 to 05/01/06
Outputs
This award was made in April 2005, and funds were not available until August. Nevertheless, we accomplished the goals set out for the first year of the grant by conducting a large-scale summer field experiment at the South Deerfield Research Farm (Objs 2a & b). To determine the relative importance of herbivory and pollination for yield in butternut squash, we manipulated early-season herbivory and pollination intensity in a fully factorial design with 25 replicates in 5 blocks. Additionally, we evaluated how 5 different possible perimeter trap crops affected yield via impacts on herbivores and pollinators by surrounding each plot with one of the 5 perimeters (n = 5 per treatment; split plot design). Data collection is complete but data are still being entered and proofed for several aspects of the study. So far, we found that zucchini, blue hubbard and buttercup squash as perimeter trap crops marginally increase yield over a wild gourd or a control border of
butternut. We found no effects of early season herbivory or enhanced pollination on yield, but have yet to examine impacts on seed production that could suggest pollen limitation. Additionally, the effects of treatments on herbivory, floral morphology and pollinator behavior have not yet been analyzed. Such results may have significant implications for fields where squash are pollen-limited for yield. In addition, we are nearly done with a greenhouse experiment to fulfill Objective 1. We have grown 20 varieties and species of cucurbits in the field over the summer and in the greenhouse this fall to correlate a variety of attractive and defensive traits (measured in the greenhouse) with herbivore resistance and pollinator attraction in the field (measured this summer). All summer data have been collected. We are nearly done collecting tissue for chemical analysis from greenhouse experiments. Trichomes and water content are also in the process of being measured, and scent has been
collected from most flowers. We anticipate that all data will be collected for this project by March 2006. This study will provide a comprehensive examination of traits that may reduce herbivory and increase pollination in squash. Such traits may be profitable foci of future breeding programs for pest resistance.
Impacts
Our study will (1) determine the relative importance of herbivory and pollination for butternut yield in western Massachusetts, (2) suggest alternative perimeter trap crops to give growers options for non-pesticides ways to effectively reduce pest damage, and (3) determine traits that may be responsible for pest resistance and pollinator attraction that could be selected in future breeding programs or used in designing field production or pest management strategies. Preliminary results suggest that both zucchini and Cucurbita maxima species may make effective perimeter trap crops, giving growers a summer squash as well as winter squash option for reducing pesticide use while controlling pest damage.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 05/01/05 to 04/30/06
Outputs
This award was made in April 2005, and funds were not available until August. Nevertheless, we accomplished the goals set out for the first year of the grant by conducting a large-scale summer field experiment at the South Deerfield Research Farm (Objs 2a & b). To determine the relative importance of herbivory and pollination for yield in butternut squash, we manipulated early-season herbivory and pollination intensity in a fully factorial design with 25 replicates in 5 blocks. Additionally, we evaluated how 5 different possible perimeter trap crops affected yield via impacts on herbivores and pollinators by surrounding each plot with one of the 5 perimeters (n = 5 per treatment; split plot design). Data collection is complete but data are still being entered and proofed for several aspects of the study. So far, we found that zucchini, blue hubbard and buttercup squash as perimeter trap crops marginally increase yield over a wild gourd or a control border of
butternut. We found no effects of early season herbivory or enhanced pollination on yield, but have yet to examine impacts on seed production that could suggest pollen limitation. Additionally, the effects of treatments on herbivory, floral morphology and pollinator behavior have not yet been analyzed. Such results may have significant implications for fields where squash are pollen-limited for yield. In addition, we are nearly done with a greenhouse experiment to fulfill Objective 1. We have grown 20 varieties and species of cucurbits in the field over the summer and in the greenhouse this fall to correlate a variety of attractive and defensive traits (measured in the greenhouse) with herbivore resistance and pollinator attraction in the field (measured this summer). All summer data have been collected. We are nearly done collecting tissue for chemical analysis from greenhouse experiments. Trichomes and water content are also in the process of being measured, and scent has been
collected from most flowers. We anticipate that all data will be collected for this project by March 2006. This study will provide a comprehensive examination of traits that may reduce herbivory and increase pollination in squash. Such traits may be profitable foci of future breeding programs for pest resistance.
Impacts
Our study will (1) determine the relative importance of herbivory and pollination for butternut yield in western Massachusetts, (2) suggest alternative perimeter trap crops to give growers options for non-pesticides ways to effectively reduce pest damage, and (3) determine traits that may be responsible for pest resistance and pollinator attraction that could be selected in future breeding programs or used in designing field production or pest management strategies. Preliminary results suggest that both zucchini and Cucurbita maxima species may make effective perimeter trap crops, giving growers a summer squash as well as winter squash option for reducing pesticide use while controlling pest damage.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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