Progress 01/01/09 to 09/30/13
Outputs
Target Audience: 3 graduate students (PhD level) conducted research and successfully received their degrees on various parts of this project. One masters level graduate student is currently involved in research directly related to this project. Results were used to teach multiple county agents about organic production. These research projects were used as educational components of at least 2 agent training sessions with around 30 total participants. The field aspects of the project were used to demonstrate alternative pest management practices for cucurbit and apple production. These experiments were used to train 50-55 student apprentices enrolled in Apprenticeship in Sustainable Agriculture (SAG 3976) at UK. The field plots were used as experiential tools to train the apprentices in alternative pest management techniques. During the duration of the project over 5000 people toured the UK Organic Farming Research and Education Unit. These experiments were prominently displayed and explained to all visitors. Groups include visiting scholars from the United States and abroad, college students from across our campus and from other universities and college around the country, Kentucky high school students, Montessori students, elementary students, various farmers groups, and the general public. Research findings were presented at a national conference on organic fruit production which included researchers and farmers in the audience. Research findings were presented at departmental seminars that had faculty, graduate students and undergraduates in the audience. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? The field components of objective 1 and 2 were used to train underagraduate students enrolled in a apprenticeship in sustainable agriculture class. The research plots were used to experientially demonstrate the use of holistic management techniques for reducing pest problems in both cucurbits and apples. These plots were also used for extension agent training as part of a pest management class. The outcomes of this work were presented at research seminars in our college and at a national conference on organic fruit production. Work in this project was used as parts of three PhD Graduate Student projects. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? In addition to peer reviewed journals, results were published in our Univesity of Kentucky Fruit and Vegetable Research Report, which is read by farmers around our state. The field components of the research were presented to a huge range of people as part of regular tours that are given to our universities' 30 acre Organic Farming Unit. Results from this work were presented to farmers and were adopted by at least three prominant organic growers in our region. These on farm trials will hopefully facilitiate a wider adoption of the pest management practices identified in this study. Research findings from the organic apple project (Objective 2) will be presented at our upcoming Kentucky Fruit and Vegetable Growers conference, which is the largest and most widely respected conference in our state. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective 1. During this project a production system was developed capable of reducing the incidence of bacterial wilt in cucurbits, which is a major impediment to organic production in the eastern United States. This system utilizes spun-bonded row covers placed over the crop to exclude the insect vectors of the disease that feed on the crop, and transmit the bacteria into the plants. The system that was demonstrated to have good potential for farmers was the use of row covers for the entire growing season, with a two-week window where they were removed to allow pollination. Organic insecticides are needed during the two-week window, but the use of the extended duration row cover allows the insecticide sprays to be eliminated for the remaining part of the season. This allows an economical viable crop to be produced and reduces the reliance on pesticides throughout the copping cycle. This system is scalable and can be used throughout the growing season. Considering the difficulty that bacterial wilt poses for organic growers, the potential adoption of this technique could impact many farmers. Objective 2. A high-density organically managed apple production system was established during this project. Multiple year results have demonstrated that organic apple production is possible in the Southeast if an integrated pest management system is optimized. With proper cultivar selection and the use of timely pesticide applications this research demonstrated a holistic system that could be used to produce a viable apple crop. This research also identified key limitations to organic apple production and areas for future research. Since apples are a perennial crop, each year of this project provided data that resulted in changes in our approach to pest magement. As problems with key pest were identified that broke through pesticide applications, revised appraoches were adopted in subsequant years that ultimately eleviated many of the fundamental problems with organic production of apples. These results are appropriate to help conventional growers transition into organic production and new growers alleviate some of the impediments to successful organic orchard management. Objective 3. Research in this study examined the affects of soil amendments on aggregation and it was demonstrated that organic soil amendments such as vetch and manure can be used to influence the microbial community in such a way that it favors formation of soil structure. These results are significant in that they provide scientific rationale for using organic amendments as a tool for soil quality improvements in organic production systems. This work is also investigating the affects on these microbial shifts in the soil on plant gene regulation. This work will hopefully lead to an enhanced understanding of the impact of soil microbial biodiversity on plant health and defense gene regulation. Results from this study have spured on a significant efort to more clearly identify soil microbial communties and how they impact microbial populations residing inside of plants. These endophytic microbes, once characterized, could be key players in upregulating plant defense and helath-related gene expression.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Caudle, J.R., Coolong, T., Williams, M.A., Vincelli, P. and Bessin, R. 2013. DEVELOPMENT OF AN ORGANIC MUSKMELON PRODUCTION SYSTEM AGAINST BACTERIAL WILT DISEASE. Acta Hort. (ISHS) 1001:249-254
http://www.actahort.org/books/1001/1001_27.htm
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Improving Soil Structure by Promoting Fungal Abundance with Organic Soil Amendments. Lucas, S., Williams, M., D'Angelo, E. Applied Soil Ecology, 75C (2014), pp. 13-23
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2012
Citation:
ORGANIC MUSKMELON PRODUCTION SYSTEM AGAINST BACTERIAL WILT DISEASE. Caudle, R., Williams, M. 2nd Internation Fruit Research Symposium, Fort Leavenworth, WA. June 18, 2012
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Progress 01/01/12 to 12/31/12
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Objective1. A field experiment was conducted to control the insect vector of bacterial wilt using row covers. Four treatments were used: T1no pesticides or remay applied (control); T2, reemay removed at anthesis, organic pesticides applied afterwards; T3, reemay removed at anthesis and replaced 2 weeks later, organic pesticides applied while reemay was removed; and T4, standard organic, reemay removed completely at anthesis, organic pesticides applied afterwards, plus Blight Ban. Blight Ban A506 Pseudomonas fluorescens has been found to affect the progression of the pathogen after infection in the plant but was ineffective in 2012 in a field setting. This project confirmed that remay can be an effective method of reducing bacterial wilt if used in conjunction with organic pesticides. This project is being done by a graduate student as part of a PhD project. Objective 2. This project was in its third year and was subdivided into 5 sub objectives: 1 compare shallow tillage to selected annual ground covers. 2, evaluate a liquid lime sulfur/fish oil mixture for fruit thinning. 3, assess the effectiveness of sulfur-bearing compounds and other non-sulfur materials for management of sooty blotch/flyspeck and cedar apple rust. 4, compare physical techniques for control of codling moth, plum curculio and other pests. 5, assess fruit quality at harvest and after 8 weeks of cold storage. Objective 3. Two experiments were designed to evaluate soil quality and plant health responses to amendment driven changes in the soil microbial community. To evaluate soil quality responses, an 82 day incubation experiment was conducted across 3 central Kentucky soils. The experiment tested the effects of 4 amendment treatments on soil structure soil microbial community profiles. The hypothesis tested in this research was that amendments that stimulated greater levels of fungal biomarkers would also stimulate greater formation of soil structure. Amendment treatments consisted of hairy vetch residue, dairy manure, vegetable compost, and a non-amended control. Samples collected on incubation days 0, 5, 12, 30, and 82 were analyzed for water stable aggregation (a measure of soil structure which plays an important role in soil quality), microbial fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) and the fungal biomarker ergosterol. An experiment to evaluate plant health responses has been conducted in which a conventionally managed Maury silt loam soil receives 5 amendment treatments: hairy vetch residue, dairy manure, vegetable compost, ammonium nitrate and non-amended control. The experiment also included an organically managed treatment consisting of the same Maury soil but sampled from a field that had been under an organic management regime for 7 years. Tomatoes were planted in treated soil and selected tomato genes were analyzed for responses to amendments and relationships to soil microbial biomarkers, including FAMEs and ergosterol. Genes were analyzed using quantitative real-time PCR and included hormone response, nitrogen assimilation, and defense response genes. This project is being conducted by a graduate student as part of his PhD project. PARTICIPANTS: Principal Investigator: Mark Williams organized, oversaw and directed all aspects of the work in this project. He mentored the graduate students as well as all other personnel. Graduate Students (PhD): Robert Caudle, Logan Minter and Shawn Lucas. These students used projects under objectives 1 and 3 for their graduate research. They conducted all aspects of the work. Research Analyst: Delia Scott and Neil Wilson conducted the field experiments in objective 1 and all of the experiments in objective 2. Farm Manager: Ben Abell worked on objective 1. Undergraduates: Ethan Steffen and Mims Russell worked on objectives 1 and 2. Collaborators: Mark Gleason (Iowa State University), Shelby Fleischer (Penn State University) are collaborators on objective 1 experiments. Tim Coolong (UK Department of Horticulture) and Ric Bessin (UK Department of Entomology) also worked on this project. Doug Archbold and John Strang (UK Department of Horticulture) and Ric Bessin collaborated on all aspects of experiments in objective 2. TARGET AUDIENCES: 3 graduate students (PhD level) were mentored on this project. Results were used to teach county agents about organic production. These experiments were used to train 11 student apprentices enrolled in Apprenticeship in Sustainable Agriculture (SAG 3976) at UK. Over 1000 people toured the UK Organic Farming Research and Education Unit in 2012. These experiments were prominently displayed and explained to all visitors. Group include visiting scholars from the United States and abroad, college students from across our campus, Kentucky high school students, Montessori students, elementary students, various farmers groups, and the public. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Objective 1. Results differed from previous years but still indicate it is possible to reduce the number of pesticide treatments using row covers to exclude the insect vectors. Weather was a large factor in 2012 and the treatments with extended row cover performed poorly due to extreme heat. As in previous years the untreated control treatment performed poorly with a substantial yield reduction. T2 and T4 gave the highest yield but were not statistically different, indicating that the Blightban gave no further disease reduction. T3 had a yield similar to the T1 control due to the intense heat leading up to harvest. These results are significant given the difficulty of production due to extremely heavy insect pressure in the southeast, and the high cost and relative inefficiency of current organic insecticides. Objective 2. Continued improvements were made in 2012 in controlling pests organically. Phermone traps were used, and a codling moth granulosis virus applied. Work continued from 2011 with physical pest control via fruit bagging. This confirmed that some measure of control against cedar apple rust, powdery mildew, sooty blotch, and flyspeck; as well as codling moth and plum curculio, could be obtained. An organically approved thinning spray of liquid lime sulfur and fish oil was again used during apple bloom stage, with good results. A strict 7-day spray schedule for disease and insect control was designed and adhered to. Taken collectively, these results indicate that it is possible to grow apples organically in Kentucky. This experiment has shown that almost all major production practices are now feasible and 2013 experiments will focus on further developing and fine-tuning control techniques. Objective 3. The results of the soil quality experiment demonstrated that in all three soils vetch and dairy manure stimulated greater soil structure formation (measured as water stable macroaggregates) relative to compost and non-amended soils. Vetch and manure also stimulated higher levels of the fungal FAME 18:2ω6 and the fungal biomarker ergosterol. Vetch promoted the greatest increases in fungal biomarkes as well as the greatest macroaggregate formation. When macroaggregate formation was analyzed against all measured microbial biomarkers (including fungal, bacterial, and actinomycete FAMEs and ergosterol) it was most strongly related to 18:26 and ergosterol. These outcomes provide evidence that organic soil amendments such as vetch and manure can be used to influence the microbial community in such a way that it favors formation of soil structure. Given the importance of soil structure and microbial diversity to overall soil quality, these outcomes would be useful to producers, researchers and extension specialists with an interest in building or maintaining soil structure through use of organic amendments.
Publications
- Wilson, N, Coolong T and M. Williams. 2012. Organic Production of Cucurbit Crops Using Row Covers. University of Kentucky Fruit and Vegetable Research Report PR 656: 36-37.
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Progress 01/01/11 to 12/31/11
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Objective1. A field experiment was conducted to control the insect vector of bacterial wilt using row covers. Five treatments were used: T1, reemay removed after transplanting and no pesticides applied; T2, reemay removed at anthesis, organic pesticides applied afterwards; T3, reemay removed at anthesis and replaced 2 weeks later, organic pesticides applied while reemay was removed; and T4, reemay removed at anthesis and replaced 2 weeks later, organic pesticides applied while the reemay was removed.; and T5, standard organic, reemay removed completely at anthesis, organic pesticides applied afterwards, plus Blight Ban. In order to track the progress of Erwinia tracheiphila as it develops, a new Real-Time PCR screen has been developed to quantitatively assess the presence of the bacteria and track disease development. Blight Ban A506 Pseudomonas fluorescens has been found to affect the progression of the pathogen after infection in the plant. Further investigation into mode of action is on-going. These three projects are being done by a graduate student as part of a PhD project. Objective 2. This project was subdivided into 5 sub objectives: 1 compare shallow tillage to selected annual ground covers. 2, evaluate a liquid lime sulfur/fish oil mixture for fruit thinning. 3, assess the effectiveness of sulfur-bearing compounds and other non-sulfur materials for management of sooty blotch/flyspeck and cedar apple rust. 4, compare physical techniques for control of codling moth, plum curculio and other pests. 5, assess fruit quality at harvest and after 8 weeks of cold storage. A presentation was made at the Organic Association of Kentucky annual meeting. Objective 3. Two experiments were designed to evaluate soil quality and plant health responses to amendment driven changes in the soil microbial community. To evaluate soil quality responses, an 82 day incubation experiment was conducted across 3 central Kentucky soils. The experiment tested the effects of 4 amendment treatments on soil structure soil microbial community profiles. Amendment treatments consisted of hairy vetch residue, dairy manure, vegetable compost, and a non-amended control. Samples collected on incubation days 0, 5, 12, 30, and 82 were analyzed for water stable aggregation (a measure of soil structure which plays an important role in soil quality), microbial fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) and the fungal biomarker ergosterol. To evaluate plant health responses an experiment is currently being conducted in which a Maury silt loam soil receives 5 amendment treatments: hairy vetch residue, dairy manure, vegetable compost, ammonium nitrate and non-amended control. Tomatoes have been planted in amended soil and selected tomato genes will be analyzed for responses to amendments and relationships to soil microbial biomarkers, including FAMEs and ergosterol. Genes will be analyzed using quantitative real-time PCR and will include hormone response, nitrogen assimilation, and defense response genes. This project is being conducted by a graduate student as part of his PhD project and he presented the soil quality results at the Soil Science Society of America Annual Meeting. PARTICIPANTS: Principal Investigator: Mark Williams organized, oversaw and directed all aspects of the work in this project. He mentored the graduate students as well as all other personnel. Graduate Students (PhD): Robert Caudle, Logan Minter and Shawn Lucas. These students used projects under objectives 1 and 3 for their graduate research. They conducted all aspects of the work. Research Analyst: Delia Scott conducted the field experiments in objective 1 and all of the experiments in objective 2. Farm Manager: Ben Abell worked on objective 1. Undergraduates: Jason Coleman and Ethan Steffen worked on objectives 1 and 2. Collaborators: Mark Gleason (Iowa State University), Shelby Fleischer (Penn State University) are collaborators on objective 1 experiments. Tim Coolong (UK Department of Horticulture) and Ric Bessin (UK Department of Entomology) also worked on this project. Doug Archbold and John Strang (UK Department of Horticulture) and Ric Bessin collaborated on all aspects of experiments in objective 2. TARGET AUDIENCES: 3 graduate students (PhD level) were mentored on this project. Results were used to teach county agents about organic production in both Kentucky and Tennessee. These experiments were used to train 14 student apprentices enrolled in Apprenticeship in Sustainable Agriculture (SAG 3976) at UK. Over 1000 people toured the UK Organic Farming Research and Education Unit in 2011. These experiments were prominently displayed and explained to all visitors. Group include visiting scholars from the United States and abroad, college students from across our campus, Kentucky high school students, Montessori students, elementary students, various farmers groups, and the public. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Objective 1. Results indicate it is possible to reduce the number of pesticide treatments using row covers to exclude the insect vectors. The untreated control treatment performed poorly with a 25% - 27% yield reduction compared to the other treatments. T4 gave the highest yield, although it was only 2% higher then the standard organic practice of T2. These results will be useful to organic growers by providing a system which they can reliably produce organic cucurbits and reduce pesticide inputs. Blight Ban was found to significantly reduce culls at the end of the season. This is significant given the difficulty of production due to extremely heavy insect pressure in the southeast, and the high cost and relative inefficiency of current organic insecticides. Objective 2. Significant strides were made in 2011 in controlling pests organically. Codling moth pheromone traps were used, and a codling moth granulosis virus applied. Two physical barriers were used against insect and diseases, Japanese bags and deli bags. Both provided some measure of control against cedar apple rust, powdery mildew, sooty blotch, and flyspeck; as well as codling moth and plum curculio. An organically approved thinning spray of liquid lime sulfur and fish oil was used during apple bloom stage, with good results. A strict 7-day spray schedule for disease and insect control was designed and adhered to. Taken collectively, these results indicate that it is possible to grow apples organically in Kentucky. This experiment has shown that almost all major production practices are now feasible and 2012 experiments will focus on further developing and fine-tuning control techniques. As it develops, this system will help guide production decisions for KY apple growers interested in organic production. Objective 3. Results of the soil quality experiment demonstrated that in all three soils vetch, and dairy manure, stimulated greater soil structure formation relative to compost and non-amended soils. Vetch and manure also stimulated higher levels of the fungal fatty acids and the fungal biomarker ergosterol. Vetch promoted the greatest increases in fungal biomarkes as well as the greatest macroaggregate formation. When macroaggregate formation was analyzed against all measured microbial biomarkers it was most strongly related to 18:26 and ergosterol. These outcomes provide evidence that organic soil amendments such as vetch and manure can be used to influence the microbial community in such a way that it favors formation of soil structure. Given the importance of soil structure and microbial diversity to overall soil quality, these outcomes would be useful to producers, researchers and extension specialists with an interest in building or maintaining soil structure through use of organic amendments. Data for the plant health experiment is currently being collected. We anticipate that the data will show that certain amendments promote a healthier genetic profile in tomato plants than other amendments. Given their important role in transforming organic amendments, we anticipate tomato gene responses to be related to amendment driven changes in the soil microbial community profile.
Publications
- Scott, D, and M. Williams. 2011. The impact of row cover placement for the organic production of muskmelon and butternut squash in Kentucky. University of Kentucky Fruit and Vegetable Research Report PR 608: 34-38.
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Progress 01/01/10 to 12/31/10
Outputs
OUTPUTS: A field experiment was conducted in 2010 that focused on controlling the insect vector of bacterial wilt by using row covers over the crop to exclude the insect. Four treatments were tested: Control with no treatment, Row covers until flowering followed by pesticide application, Row covers until flowering with covers off for one week, Row covers until flowering with covers off for two weeks and then closed until harvest. In order to track the progress of Erwinia tracheiphila as it develops, a new tool has been developed to quantitatively assess the presence of the bacteria and track disease development. Development of a Real-Time PCR screen has been obtained using extracted DNA from E. tracheiphila isolates obtained from our collaborator Iowa State University. In an effort to identify a potential organic control method for the bacteria, numerous natural compounds were screened as well as a commercially available biocontrol agent containing Pseudomonas fluorescens A506. This project is being completed by a graduate student as part of a PhD project, and he presented the results at the Kentucky Fruit and Vegetable Growers Conference in Lexington, KY in January. The field experiment was featured at daylong agent trainings in Kentucky (June 16) and TN (Aug 19), as well as at the University of Kentucky Horticulture Farm Field Day (July 22). Additionally, an on farm demonstration field day was done at Carl Benson's farm in Forkland, KY (Aug 10). For the 2010 growing season, diseases and insects were managed in a three-year old orchard primarily by adhering to a strict spray schedule. Various sprays, pheromone traps, and bagging treatments were used to control critical pests. Additionally an organically approved thinning agent was evaluated. A presentation was made at the Kentucky Fruit and Vegetable Growers Conference in Lexington, KY in January. This project was featured in the University of Kentucky Horticulture Farm Field Day (July 22), and was used to teach organic fruit production to 14 student apprentices. Results from this work were used as preliminary data to secure a grant from the Specialty Crops Block Grant program from the Kentucky Department of Agriculture. An 82 day incubation experiment was conducted across 3 soils collected from central Kentucky. The experiment tested the effects of 4 amendment treatments on soil structure and the soil microbial community profile. The primary hypothesis tested in this research was that amendments that stimulated greater levels of fungal biomarkers would also stimulate greater formation of soil structure. Amendment treatments: hairy vetch residue, dairy manure, vegetable compost, and a non-amended control. Samples collected on incubation days 0, 5, 12, 30. and 82 were analyzed for water stable aggregation (a measure of soil structure), microbial fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) and the fungal biomarker ergosterol. This project is being done by a graduate student as part of his PhD project and he presented the results at the Soil Science Society of America 2010 Annual Meetings in Long Beach, CA. PARTICIPANTS: Principal Investigator: Mark Williams organized, oversaw and directed all aspects of the work in this project. He mentored the graduate students as well as all other personel. Graduate Students (PhD): Robert Caudle, Logan Mintor and Shawn Lucas. These students used projects under objectives 1 and 3 for their graduate research. They conducted all aspects of the work. Research Analyst: Delia Scott conducted all of the experiments in objective 2. Farm Manager: Ben Abell worked on all three projects Undergraduates: Jason Coleman,Ty Cato worked on all three projects Collaborators: Mark Gleason (Iowa State University), Shelby Fleischer (Penn State University) are collaborators on objective 1 experiments. Tim Coolong (UK Department of Horticulture) and Ric Bessin (UK Department of Entomology) also worked on this project. Doug Archbold and John Strang (UK Department of Horticulture) and Ric Bessin collaborated on all aspects of experiments in objective 2. TARGET AUDIENCES: 3 graduate students (PhD level) were mentored on this project. Results were used to teach county agents about organic production in both Kentucky and Tennessee. Field days disseminated the results to a large number of organic farmers, as well as the public (consumers). These experiments were used to train 14 student apprentices enrolled in Apprenticeship in Sustainable Agriculture (SAG 3976) at UK. Over 1000 people toured the UK Organic Farming Research and Education Unit in 2010. These experiments were prominently displayed and explained to all visitors. Groups include visiting scholars from the United States and abroad, college students from across our campus, Kentucky high school students, Montessori students, elementary students, various farmers groups, and the public. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
The results of this work indicate that it is possible to reduce the number of pesticide treatments in an organic system by extending the duration that row covers are used to exclude the insect vector of bacterial wilt. The untreated control treatment performed poorly with a 25% - 27% yield reduction compared to the other treatments. Treatment four gave the highest yield, although it was only 2% higher then the standard organic practice of treatment two. These results will be useful to organic growers by providing a system with which they can reliably produce organic cucurbits and reduce pesticide inputs. This is significant given the difficulty of production due to extremely heavy insect pressure in the southeast, and the high cost and relative inefficiency of current organic insecticides. Although significant strides were made in 2010 in controlling pests organically, several problems were identified that are limiting production. Trunk banding for control of codling moth had no significant reduction in the incidence of insect damage on the fruit. Codling moth pheromone traps and mating disruption ties were placed in the orchard, with some success. Two physical barriers were used against insects and diseases, Japanese bags and deli bags. Both provided some measure of control against major diseases, including cedar apple rust, powdery mildew, sooty blotch, and flyspeck; as well as protection from codling moth and plum curculio. An organically approved thinning spray consisting of liquid lime sulfur and fish oil was used during apple bloom stage, with good results. Taken collectively these results indicate that it may be possible to grow apples organically in Kentucky but there are a handful of insects and diseases that are currently limiting production. This experiment has shown that almost all major production practices are now feasible and 2011 experiments will focus on developing control techniques for the handful of remaining problems. As it develops, this system will help guide production decisions for KY apple growers interested in organic production. The results of this experiment demonstrated that in all three soils vetch, and to a slightly lesser degree dairy manure, stimulated greater soil structure formation (measured as water stable macroaggregates) relative to compost and non-amended soils. Vetch and manure also stimulated higher levels of the fungal FAME 18:2ω6 and the fungal biomarker ergosterol. When macroaggregate formation was analyzed against all measured microbial biomarkers (including fungal, bacterial, and actinomycete FAMEs and ergosterol) it was most strongly related to 18:26 and ergosterol. Thus these outcomes provide evidence that organic soil amendments such as vetch and manure can be used to influence the microbial community in such a way that it favors formation of soil structure. Given the importance of soil structure and microbial diversity to overall soil quality, these outcomes would be useful to producers, researchers and extension specialists with an interest in building or maintaining soil structure through use of organic amendments.
Publications
- Minter, L, and R. Bessin. 2010. Understanding cucurbit pest phenology in Central Kentucky. University of Kentucky Fruit and Vegetable Research Report PR 608: 42-43.
- Caudle, R. 2010. Development of organic melon production methods to control bacterial wilt. University of Kentucky Fruit and Vegetable Research Report, PR 608: 44-45.
- Scott, D., Williams, M., Archbold, D., Strang, J., and Bessin, R., 2010 Organic Apple Orchard Update. University of Kentucky Fruit and Vegetable Research Report PR 608
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Progress 01/01/09 to 12/31/09
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Objective 1: Field experiments in 2009 were conducted to evaluate the efficacy of using exclusion to control cucumber beetle and the bacterial disease it vectors in an organic melon production system. This experiment tested the ability of extended duration row covers to control the beetle. Typical organic control uses row covers until flowering with pesticide application for the rest of the season. This does not work in areas of the country with heavy beetle infestation such as Kentucky. This season allowed us to determine the most effective ways to integrate row covers and results will guide 2010 experimental changes. This project is the main component of a PhD thesis for a graduate student. Findings from this year were presented in a Horticulture departmental seminar and at the 2010 Kentucky Fruit and Vegetable Growers annual meeting in Lexington, KY. The audience was around 100 people. The field site was used for two grower's tours (20-30 per tour) and as part of a half day extension agent training in organic production methods. Data from the project was also published in the 2009 KY Fruit and Vegetable Research Report. Objective 2: During the first three years of this project, which was started in 2007, diseases and insects were managed by adhering to a spray schedule timed to coincide with apple bloom stages. In the third year of establishment (2009), the orchard was allowed to bear fruit. Only preliminary data was obtained from the fruit as the growing season was particularly difficult due to abnormally high rainfall amounts, which led to significant problems with disease. However, main disease and insect problems were identified, and plans for the fourth year of the orchard, are based on the problems from the third year. Results were presented at the at the 2010 Kentucky Fruit and Vegetable Growers annual meeting in Lexington, KY, and the site was used on numerous farm tours for growers, students, and the public. Objective 3. The research associated with this objective is currently in progress. Three soils (a sandy loam, a silt loam and a silty clay loam) have been identified, collected, and characterized for carbon content, fertility, pH, cation exchange capacity and other physical and chemical soil properties. Baseline microbial community analysis on these soils has also been performed using an ester-linked fatty acid methyl ester method (EL-FAME). Amendments have been produced or obtained and have been characterized for carbon content and nutrient content. A preliminary incubation has been carried out to determine the best method with which to analyze soil aggregate formation: wet sieving or dry sieving. An amino sugar method for analyzing bacterial and fungal cellular residues in soil is currently being optimized for use in our laboratory. This project is the main component of a PhD thesis for a graduate student. PARTICIPANTS: Robert Caudle - graduate student using objective 1 for his PhD research Delia Scott - Research Analyst conducting objective 2 research Shawn Lucas - graduate student using objective 3 for his PhD research. Recipient of SARE graduate student grant to help support this work. Results in objective 1 were used as preliminary data in a successfully obtained USDA-OREI grant. That grant will fund collaborative research between Iowa State (PI-Mark Gleason), Penn State (PI- Shelby Fleisher)and UK. The UK research team includes myself, Tim Coolong (Horticulture Department) and Ric Bessin (Entomology Department). TARGET AUDIENCES: The main target audience for this work is the organic growers in KY, although many of the anticipated results will be applicable to the southeast region of the US. Additional audiences are extension agents, consumers, teachers, students, visiting researchers. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Objective 1. Experiments in 2009 confirmed that it is possible to obtain economically viable harvest and levels of cucumber beetle control in melons using an integrated organic system. One of the main objectives was to evaluate the use of bumble bees as alternative pollinators under extended-duration row covers. This treatment was shown to be ineffective and will not be recommended to growers in the future. Data from this project was used as preliminary data for a USDA-OREI grant. That grant was successfully obtained as part of a multi-state project and is funding an expansion of the work proposed in this objective. Objective 2. The 2009 year allowed the main disease and insect problems that are limiting for organic apple production to be identified. Fire blight, cedar apple rust, sooty blotch, and flyspeck were the most significant diseases present. Most significant insects included plum curculio, codling moth, and stinkbug. New control methods for the future will include the use of trunk banding and codling moth granulosis virus (CpGV) for codling moth, as well as increased sanitation to control plum curculio. Additionally three physical barriers against insects and diseases were tested in 2009. These were Japanese bags, deli bags, and nylon footies all applied to the fruit for disease and insect exclusion. The Japanese bags and deli bags provided some level of control against rust, powdery mildew, fungal diseases, and codling moth. The nylon footies had higher incidence of fungal diseases than the other treatments. This experiment is already confirming that organic apple production is possible in KY. The most difficult to control factors have been identified and 2010 experiments will focus on developing suitable controls. Once developed this system could help guide production decisions for KY growers. Objective 3. Although most of the work in this objective is still in the early stages, preliminary results were used in a successful SARE grant that will partially fund the graduate student that will use this project for his PhD research.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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