Progress 09/01/18 to 08/31/19
Outputs
Target Audience:We are targeting small fruit producers in North America, specifically cranberry, and ultimately blueberries. The cranberry industry accounts for approximately $4 billion yearly in value-added output, from ~55,000 acres of crop, a large part of which is located in Wisconsin and Massachusetts in the United States, and Quebec in Canada. North American blueberry acreage increased from 95,607 to 108,791 between 2008-2010, and continues to grow today. As growers will spend between $60- 150/acre on insect control measures depending on location, the annual value of the market is $3.3-8.3 million for cranberries, and $6.5-16.2 million for blueberries. Changes/Problems:Due to the lack of efficacy in controlling the populations of Sparagnothis sulfureana as part of the SPLAT CRAN blend, the (E)-11-Tetradecenyl acetate pheromone was developed into a SPLAT with a base formulation equivalent to that of SPLAT CRAN, to test alone on populations of Sparganothis moths in a field trial in Massachusetts, to eliminate the variable of competition of the other compounds of the SPLAT CRAN blend as a reason for reduced efficacy of the SPLAT CRAN formulation on Sparganothis moths. Results are currently being collected. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?As this Phase II project moves forward, ISCA researchers and their research partners will endeavor to improve the formulation's efficacy against the third target cranberry pest, SFW, as well as to address the difficulties encountered with the appearance of harvest residue on the crop. AI release rate and stability studies, evaluations of new synthetic methods for the CFW sex pheromone, and additional field trials will also be conducted. ISCA will work to engage the involvement and input of relevant stakeholders, including growers and beekeepers, throughout PII studies and into post-PII commercialization efforts for SPLAT CRAN, to ensure that these products adequately address the real-world needs of these end-users.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Phase II work conducted so far has consisted of a field trial conducted in central Wisconsin, during which mechanized SPLAT extruders were retrofitted onto boom sprayers and tested on 80 acres of commercial cranberries, across four marshes. Nine boom-arm mounted extruders were constructed of steel and threaded rod, designed to hold a 750-g SPLAT-filled caulking tube. The SPLAT formulation was extruded by the action of a stepper motor that applied pressure to the base of the caulking tube, dispensing the desired amount of the formulation along a grid formation in the cranberry bed. This system was designed to capably handle and dispense the thick, viscous SPLAT formulation at larger scales than previously tested methods (e.g., caulking guns, grease guns), to be readily attachable to various boom designs, and to be amenable to transport from one marsh to another. This modified boom-arm applicator was tested in the 2017 growing season. Two treatments were assessed for their ability to suppress populations of the three target species of this project, CFW, BFW, and SFW, as measured by number of adult moths captured in pheromone-baited traps placed in the field: 1) SPLAT CRAN + standard insecticide treatment and 2) standard insecticide treatment alone (control). While no reduction was seen in male moth trap capture rates for SFW, CFW and BFW capture rates were lower in cranberry beds treated with SPLAT CRAN + insecticide than in beds treated with insecticide alone. These results indicate that SPLAT CRAN successfully disrupted the ability of male CFW and BFW moths to orient and locate female-produced sex pheromones.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/17 to 08/31/19
Outputs
Target Audience:Cranberries are an important crop to many small and mid-size farms in the US. Of the US acreage devoted to the cultivation of cranberries, around 60% is located in Wisconsin, with the remaining acreage in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon and Washington. As Wisconsin's top fruit crop, cranberries bring in ~$200 million annually, providing thousands of jobs statewide. The state of New Jersey harvests ~$20 million of cranberries annually. Every year, cranberry and blueberry crops are threatened by pest insects. Cranberry fruitworm (Acrobasis vaccinia), blackheaded fireworm (Rhopobota naevana), and Sparganothis fruitworm (Sparganothis sulfureana), are three of the most damaging insect pests on cranberries in the US. These insects feed on the buds, foliage, and fruit of susceptible crops, subsequently destroying the plant and severely reducing crop yields. The high value of cranberries and blueberries to these small and medium scale growers forces them to have a zero-tolerance policy for insect damage. Currently, farmers must rely on frequent sprays of conventional chemical insecticides to control the many pest insects that infest cranberries, but they are becoming increasingly concerned about the consequences of insecticide use in cranberry crops, specifically the long-term impacts these applications may have on human and environmental health, on pollinators and other non-targets, and the complications they create for potential export markets, since many countries impose strict regulations on pesticide residues. Changes/Problems:Based on data obtained from monitoring Delta Traps, SPLAT CRAN did not effectively achieve mating disruption of SFW in the treated cranberry field. One possible factor that may have contributed to these results is that the first application of treatment was late in the season. Ideally SPLAT CRAN should be applied before the first generation of SFW adults emerge. This may have impacted the results, leading to a second generation of SFW explaining the increase in population in the results. Better results are predicted if application is done prior to adult emergence. ?Our primary success in this project to date is in demonstrating the capacity of SPLAT CRAN to disrupt mate-finding behavior in two out of the three target species of this project, CFW and BFW, as shown by the reduction in trap capture rates in these two species. In addition, the construction and testing of a SPLAT extruder that can be mounted to multiple boom arm designs is a major step toward ensuring that SPLAT CRAN will be practically and operationally feasible for use in virtually any cranberry farm, regardless of scale. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Sparganothis sulfureana, otherwise known as Sparganothis fruitworm (SFW), is a serious pest of Cranberry plants causing significant damage in Massachusetts. SFW larvae feed on both the leaves and the developing fruit of the cranberry crop. While damage from SFW is similar to that of Acrobasis vaccinii (cranberry fruitworm, CFW), it is important to distinguish both pests as management differs for each one. ISCA's SPLAT CRAN formulation uses mating disruption as a means to control SFW pests by releasing sex pheromones that impede males of the target species from finding females and mating, thus causing a collapse of the pest population without the use of pesticide. The purpose of this study was to assess if ISCA's SPLAT CRAN could effectively achieve mating disruption of SFW in cranberry fields in Cape Cod, MA. Two 10 acres blocks, separated by a minimum of 100 meters, were selected in a cranberry field in Cape Cod, MA. One block was designated as a treatment block to be treated with SPLAT CRAN, while the other served as an untreated control. Two weeks prior to application, 3 lured Delta Traps were hung on wooden stakes and placed in an equal distance pattern throughout the treatment block and throughout the control block to monitor baseline levels of SFW population. Trap catches were evaluated weekly and lures were replaced during each evaluation. After the two-week monitoring period, 1g dollops of SPLAT CRAN were applied via caulking gun at every 7 feet in a straight-line formation. A total of 1 kg per acre of SPLAT CRAN (10 kg total) was applied in the treatment block. Delta Traps were used in the same manner as pre-treatment to monitor population of SFW post treatment application in the control and treatment block. SFW population was monitored throughout the season, approximately 6 weeks, with weekly evaluations and trap replacements. ?The average number of males caught in the treated block followed a similar pattern to that seen in the control block over time (Figure 2). Both treatment and control blocks had a rise in captures during week 3 followed by a sharp drop lasting until week 9, when captures began to increase once again. An independent two-tailed t-test did not find any significant difference between numbers caught in control and treatment t(23) = 0.0792, p = 0.9375. Trece traps in the treatment block showed an increase in captures during weeks 4 and 5, however captures began to drop on week 6 followed by a consistently low capture rate (M= 1.33) from week 7 to week 15 (Figure 3). There was no Trece trap data available for weeks 1 through 14 in the control block. However, the average Trece trap capture for the treatment block (M=34.33) was significantly lower than control block (M= 135.67) on weeks 15-17.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/17 to 08/31/18
Outputs
Target Audience:We are targeting small fruit producers in North America, specifically cranberry, and ultimately blueberries. The cranberry industry accounts for approximately $4 billion yearly in value-added output, from ~55,000 acres of crop, a large part of which is located in Wisconsin and Massachusetts in the United States, and Quebec in Canada. North American blueberry acreage increased from 95,607 to 108,791 between 2008-2010, and continues to grow today. As growers will spend between $60-150/acre on insect control measures depending on location, the annual value of the market is $3.3-8.3 million for cranberries, and $6.5-16.2 million for blueberries. Changes/Problems:Due to the lack of efficacy in controlling the populations of Sparagnothis sulfureana as part of the SPLAT CRAN blend, the (E)-11-Tetradecenyl acetate pheromone was developed into a SPLAT with a base formulation equivalent to that of SPLAT CRAN, to test alone on populations of Sparganothis moths in a field trial in Massachusetts, to eliminate the variable of competition of the other compounds of the SPLAT CRAN blend as a reason for reduced efficacy of the SPLAT CRAN formulation on Sparganothis moths. Results are currently being collected. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?As this Phase II project moves forward, ISCA researchers and their research partners will endeavor to improve the formulation's efficacy against the third target cranberry pest, SFW, as well as to address the difficulties encountered with the appearance of harvest residue on the crop. AI release rate and stability studies, evaluations of new synthetic methods for the CFW sex pheromone, and additional field trials will also be conducted. ISCA will work to engage the involvement and input of relevant stakeholders, including growers and beekeepers, throughout PII studies and into post-PII commercialization efforts for SPLAT CRAN, to ensure that these products adequately address the real-world needs of these end-users.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Our primary success in this project to date is in demonstrating the capacity of SPLAT CRAN to disrupt mate-finding behavior in two out of the three target species of this project, CFW and BFW, as shown by the reduction in trap capture rates in these two species. In addition, the construction and testing of a SPLAT extruder that can be mounted to multiple boom arm designs is a major step toward ensuring that SPLAT CRAN will be practically and operationally feasible for use in virtually any cranberry farm, regardless of scale.
Publications
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