Progress 09/01/15 to 08/31/18
Outputs
Target Audience:Although Georgia based peanut and grain sorghum growerswere the target audience for findings of this extension led project, we reached amuch broader audience including agricultural producers, crop consultants, county agents, government scientists, university scientists, industry representatives, legislators, and students.Growers, agents andconsultants that manage production acreagedirectly benefited from the knowledge gained and disseminated.County agents wereable tobetter advise their local producer clientele about the proper management of these pests. Fellow scientists and peers will be influenced by the project outcomes and published data and will continue to add to the literature on peanut rust, white mold and sugarcane aphid. Beyond the stated model systems, the conceptual framework and tools developed from the project were critical in mitigating astatewide whitefly infestation in 2017. Changes/Problems:We experienced two significant problems during the project. First, Statewide area planted to grain sorghum decreased by nearly 60% from 2015 to 2017, due to severe infestations of sugarcane aphid that limited producer economic returns in the previous year. This limited the number of agents that were actively looking for sugarcane aphids as many had zero growers growing the crop. Second, there were an unusually large number of county agent vacancies during the project. For example, in 2016 UGA Cooperative Extension hired 23 new agents, experienced 17 departures and 3 transfers. In 2017, UGA Cooperative Extension hired 16 new agents, experienced 10 departures and 11 transfers. Finally, in 2018, UGA Cooperative Extension hired 18 new agents, experienced 21 departures and 1 transfer. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This project enabled complete training on one professional master's student that was hired as county agent in Georgia immediately upon graduation. Further, one Research Professional, two undergraduates, and a post doc obtained training during the completion of the project. Most importantly, approximately 150 county agents received thorough training on how to report pests and invasive insects into the EDDMapS IPM database. Additionally, these data were leveraged to obtain additional grant funding to support futher refinements of the concept or utilization of other model systems including: Toews, M.D. Areawide management of sugarcane aphid on sorghum in the coastal plain region. USDA ARS Areawide Projects 9/1/2018 to 8/31/2019 ($139,077). Toews, M.D. and P.M. Roberts. Bridge funding to support whitefly management in Georgia cotton. Cotton Incorporated. 1/1/2018 to 12/31/2018 ($22,362). Sparks, A. and M. Toews. Bridge funding to support whitefly management in Georgia agricultural commodities. Georgia Commodity Commission for Vegetables. 1/1/2018 to 12/31/2018 ($19,000). Sparks, A. and M. Toews. Bridge funding to support whitefly management in Georgia agricultural commodities. Georgia Commodity Commission for Blueberries. 1/1/2018 to 12/31/2018 ($1,000). How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results of the project were demonstrated and shared widely throughthe 3314users who downloaded EDDMapS IPM, at threeextension agent training sessions, at the Annual Meeting of the Entomological Society of America, at the USDA Area wide management of sugarcane aphid annual meeting, at the UGA cotton production workshop, with the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Dean's advisory council, and with the Georgia congressional delegation in Washington DC. Citations of those meetings include: Bostick, N., J. Schmidt, C.T. Bargeron, T. Brenneman, AK Culbreath, D. Buntin, J. LaForest and M. Toews. 2017. Improving crop pest management using qualitative data networks. Annual Meeting of the Entomological Society of America. November 5-8, Denver, CO. Toews, M.D. 2017. Update on the Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health. UGA Cooperative Extension Southwest District ANR Annual Update. December 12, Tifton. Toews, M.D. 2018. Efficacy and timing of sugarcane aphid treatments. USDA Areawide management of sugarcane aphid annual meeting. January 17, Dallas, TX. Toews, M.D. 2018. Whiteflies in cotton 2017: what happened? UGA Cotton Production Workshop. January 31, Tifton. Toews, M.D. 2018. Update on the Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health. UGA Cooperative Extension Northwest District ANR Annual Update. Feb. 8, Griffin. Toews, M.D. 2018. Update on the Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health. UGA Cooperative Extension Southeast District ANR Annual Update. Feb. 13, Vidalia. Toews, M.D. Whiteflies in Georgia: June 2018 update. Presentation to Georgia congressional delegation. Washington DC. June 13 (20 participants, 25 minutes). Toews, M.D. 2018. Update on whiteflies in Georgia. CAES Dean's Advisory Committee. July 31, Griffin, GA (25 participants, 30 minutes). 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 - Develop automated systems to enable and extend real-time data collection, data visualization and timely automated push alerts (Extension Objective). Utilizing computing resources and programming expertise at the Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health, we adapted and modified an existing platform called EDDMapS (Early Detection and Distribution Mapping System, www.eddmaps.org) as the database backbone to support data storage, retrieval, and visualization for this project. A new web entry portal (https://www.eddmaps.org/ipm/report/) and customized smartphone apps (called EDDMapS IPM) for both iPhone and Android devices were updated and then we developed the ability to send out real-time alerts based on an adjustable threshold to specific users. For example, alerts can be configured to reach all users in the affected county, or all users in that county plus any contiguous counties. Real-time mapping icons were added with the ability to share, download or email directly from the app. The system was designed so that data could be uploaded from a smartphone app, or web portal, to a server and then returned to the smartphone app or website as a color-coded map representing the intensity of infestations throughout the region. The information technology components in EDDMapS include smartphone data entry, data logging, data processing on a server, and customized real-time alerts To increase the functionality of EDDMapS, we partnered with other similar data collection systems so that data flowing into our system flows to theirs and vice versa. Partners in this capacity include the integrated pest information platform for extension and educations (iPiPE) and MyFields (a software program available for use by crop consultants), See. Objective 2 - Implement qualitative data monitoring networks by populating database with statewide reports focused on three specific model systems (Extension Objective). We trained approximately 150 Agriculture and Natural Resource (ANR) county agents in the University of Georgia Extension Service (hereafter called agents) in the spring of 2016 and 2017 to report on the presence and relative abundance of sugarcane aphids in their respective counties using EDDMapS IPM. Agents were instructed to log qualitative estimates (i.e., not reported, not present, low levels, economic levels present) of sugarcane aphid activity in their respective counties on a weekly basis during the summer months. A project coordinator was made available to assist agents with technical issues related to using the app. Additionally, we prompted agents weekly using email to report on conditions in their counties during the summer months. For purposes of reporting on abundance and spatial distribution of sugarcane aphid for this project, EDDMapS IPM was downloaded 95times on an Apple device and 29 times on an Android device in 2018. Over the life of the project, EDDMapS IPM was downloaded 3018 times on an Apple device and 296 times on an Android device.In 2016 we received 11,392 reports from 72 reporters spread across 77 counties. In 2017, we received 9089 reports from 72 reporters spread across 64 counties. Finally, in 2018 we received 4749 reports from 34 reporters across 26 counties. In 2017, Georgia growers experienced an epidemic of whiteflies in cotton and late season vegetables. Extension specialists contacted us to adapt the system for reporting on whiteflies as well. In 2017, we received 480 reports from 42 reporters spread across 46 counties. Finally, in 2018, we received 4350 reports from 21 reporters across 34 counties for purposes of reporting on abundance and spatial distribution of silverleaf whitefly in cotton and fall vegetables.. Objective 3. Validate regional decision support alerts in research plots planted on multiple farms (Research Objective). The objectives of the study reported herein were to evaluate the suitability of using a consensus-based scouting network and determine the timing of insecticide applications for management of sugarcane aphid in grain sorghum. The timing of insecticide applications was (1) application at 25 aphids per leaf, (2) application at 50 aphids per leaf, (3) a delayed application 1 wk after occurrence of 50 aphids per leaf, or (4) not treated. Trials were completed at Plains and Attapulgus, GA. Results showed that a single application of flupyradifurone at 15.4 g(AI)/ha consistently reduced populations to nearly zero for the remainder of the season, while aphid populations in the non-treated plots reached a peak of 300-400 aphids per leaf. Aphid populations on the upper leaves reached 50 aphids per leaf in non-treated plots 1 wk after reaching the treatment threshold on the lower leaves. Although there were up to 2 wks difference between the early and delayed threshold treatments, all plots receiving insecticide applications had similar estimated yields, which were more than five times greater than yields in non-treated plots. Results from the consensus-based scouting network showed that first detections and reported first commercial applications generally occurred within 1 wk (range of 3 to 11 days) of the actual populations quantified in the research trials. These data suggest that initiating scouting for sugarcane aphid populations following notification of activity in the area through consensus reporting would provide adequate warning for preventing economic losses to sugarcane aphid.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Bostick, N.M., J.H. LaForest, C.T. Bargeron, A.K. Culbreath, T.B. Brenneman, J.M. Schmidt, G.D. Buntin and M.D. Toews. Improving the application timing for management of sugarcane aphid in Georgia. J Entomol. Sci. (in press).
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