IMPROVING YIELD AND QUALITY OF SMALL FRUIT IN ORGANIC PRODUCTION SYSTEMS THROUGH CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT AGRICULTURE

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: COMPLETE
• Funding Source: HATCH
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 1016517
• Project Start Date: Oct 1, 2018
• Project End Date: Sep 30, 2023
• Program Code: [(N/A)]- (N/A)

Recipient Organization
UNIV OF MINNESOTA
(N/A)
ST PAUL,MN 55108

Performing Department
Horticultural Science

Non Technical Summary
Fresh fruit is part of a healthy diet and organically grownfruit is in high demand, in large partdue to increasingconsumer concerns with pesticide residues.Additionally, demand forlocalized production is strong. Currently, the biggest challenge to increasing the production of small fruit, including raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries, isthe invasive spotted wing drosophila (SWD,Drosophila suzukii).This fly is an emerging invasive pest ofsoft skinned fruit and berries, responsible for significant economic lossesglobally.Adults lay eggs in ripening fruit, rendering it unmarketable as larvae develop within the flesh. Consequently, there is zero tolerance for larvae in fresh fruit. Organic producers have few options for chemical pest management.Better management tools are needed in order to protect the organic fruit and berry industry and meet societal needs for fresh,high quality fruit. Multiple complementary strategies are required forintegrated, sustainable pest management.To address this challenge, this project will investigate cultural, biological, and chemical management strategies to reduce infestation by SWD in small fruit in an organic production context, using controlled environment agriculture (CEA).Controlled environment agriculture (CEA) is used by a manyorganic growersto produce high quality fruit and extend the growing season in temperate regions. Innovations in plastic coverings and netting to excludeSWD may be an easy-to-implement practice to maintain organic status and fruit quality. Additionally, CEA is ideal for augmentative biological control, or the release of natural enemies that may suppress pest populations. Organically approved pesticides may work better in CEA, asrainfall is eliminated and plastics may reduce pesticide degradation. Results from this project will be used to make recommendations to growers and shared with other researchers to improve knowledge of sustainable horticultural fruit production practices.

Animal Health Component

60%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

40%

Applied

60%

Developmental

0%

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
216	1129	1130	50%
205	1123	1060	50%

Knowledge Area
205 - Plant Management Systems; 216 - Integrated Pest Management Systems;

Subject Of Investigation
1129 - Berries and cane fruits, general/other; 1123 - Raspberry;

Field Of Science
1130 - Entomology and acarology; 1060 - Biology (whole systems);

Keywords

spotted wing drosophila

drosophila suzukii

high tunnels

exclusion

integrated pest management

Goals / Objectives
Develop organic management strategies for spotted wing drosophila (SWD)Improve efficacy of USDA NOP compliant insecticides for integrated pest management of SWDInvestigate whether controlled environments reduce SWD damage in small fruit cropsInvestigate biocontrol via endemic pupal parasitoids of SWD in controlled environmentsRefine protected environment agriculture for improved fruit quality and SWD managementCharacterize microclimate (temperature, relative humidity, light quality) under different plastics and effect on fruit yield and qualityDetermine effects of controlled environment agriculture on SWD, pollinators, and beneficial insects

Project Methods
Methods and Approach*Materials and methods for research activities are reported in detail in the project proposalEffortsEfforts made to reach the target audience will include presentationsWe will reach growers in multiple ways. Prioritizing on-farm research during our site visits will make this research more relevant and practical, as well as allow us to access a greater grower network. We have preexisting relationships with blueberry and raspberry growers in the state who are hosting other on-farm research projects related to organic SWD management and this would extend that relationship and complement ongoing research. Dr. Bill Hutchison's fruit IPM website (www.fruitedge.umn.edu) and Dr. Emily Hoover's fruit production website (http://fruit.cfans.umn.edu) are well-established resources for fruit growers in MN and will host updates, blogs, and technical bulletins on a regular basis throughout the project. In addition, we will reach fruit grower audiences through presentations given at the MN Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association annual meeting, the MDA Organic Growers Conference, and the Sustainable Farmers Association Conference. We will also present to the general public and hobby growers at the UMN Research and Outreach Centers field days, such as Horticulture Night at the WCROC in Morris. On the St. Paul campus, we can reach the public at summer organic horticulture field tours, cross-advertised with the MFVGA for a more urban audience. Dr. Mary Rogers is also involved in a multistate project researching holistic management tactics for SWD on organic farms, and this can be leveraged to reach a national audience through eOrganic on eXtension. Results will also be presented at the annual NCCC 212 Small Fruit and Viticulture meeting, which develops practices for small fruit production tailored for climatic and market needs of growers.EvaluationMultiple steps will be taken to support the success of the project, including weekly meetings with graduate students and technicians, regular meetings with research and grower collaborators, and regular written and oral status updates. Meeting objectives will be identified andmeeting minutes will be documented at each meeting, revised, and dispersed to each stakehodler afterwards. For research activities, quantitative data will be recorded and analyzed to measure achievement of research objectives. Students and technicians will be trained to utilize good data managment practices in keeping laboratory notebooks and backing up electronic data. Library resources will be utilized to create a data management plan and repository for data generated through research activities. Abstracts will be generated for scientific presentations.For outreach and engagement, records will be kept of all events (who, what, where, when, why) and feedback from participants will be requested.

Progress 10/01/19 to 09/30/20

Outputs
Target Audience:November, 2019. Rogers (PI) presented the MN state report of SWD and fruit research at the multistate NCCC212: Small Fruit & Viticulture meeting hosted by Rogers and Clark at the Landscape Arboretum in Chaska, MN. Reaching approx. 20 attendees including researchers and academics, fruit breeders, graduate students, and staff. November, 2019. Rogers (PI) presented research findings related to physical exclusion and high tunnel environment at the Iowa Organic Conferences in Iowa City, IA. Reaching approx. 10 organic fruit and vegetable growers. December, 2019. Graduate student Matthew Gullickson presentedhis research titled: "Spotted-wing drosophila: Investigating the efficacy of alternative management techniques" at his thesis defense seminar, reaching approx. 25 professors, graduate students, staff, and general public. January, 2020. Rogers (PI) presents on SWD research at the Dept. of Entomology weekly seminar series. Reaching approx. 25 professors, graduate students and staff. January, 2020. Hutchison and Rogers co-presented "Managing a menace: SWD & IPM Updates" at the annual Northern Growers and Marketers conference hosted by the MN Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association in St. Cloud, MN.Reaching approx. 25 fruit and vegetable growers. January, 2020: Graduate student Matthew Gullickson (Rogers lab) presented on Spotted Wing Drosophila Management at the annual MN Dept. of Agriculture Organic conference in St. Cloud, MN.Reaching approx. 15 organic fruit and vegetable growers. February, 2020. Rogers (PI) presents research findings and grant updates on SWD management research in MN at the annual USDA OREI SWD grant planning meeting in Atlanta, GA. Reaching approx. 30 attendees including researchers, graduate students, research technicians, farmers/growers and industry representatives. April, 2020. DiGiacomo and Rogers were interviewed by Extension Educator Annie Klodd for a UMN FruitEdge podcast called "What's Killing My Kale?"The 25-minute interview is available as "Episode 5: the economic impact of SWD on the Minnesota berry industry" (https://www.fruitedge.umn.edu/kalepodcast). Reaching unkown number of fruit and vegetable growers and the general public. April, 2020. Graduate student Gullickson presentsDrosophila suzukii organic management for small fruit production.Virtual research and outreach presentation for growers hosted by Dr. Thaddeus McCamant of Central Lakes College. Reaching approx.19 attendees including fruit and vegetable growers, gardeners, and the general public. Changes/Problems:Funding for biological control research for spotted wing drosophila provided by: USDA-NIFA- 2018-51300-28434 What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Opportunities for the graduate student researchers (Gullickson & Tran) to attend and present at the annual Entomological Society of America conference in 2019 and 2020. Opprtunities for two new research technicians (Nelsen and Worth) to complete field studies on cultural and biological control of SWD. Training includes insect ID, fruit crop maintenance, data collection, management, and statistical analysis using SAS and R programs. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?As part of this projectwe have presented on spotted wing drosophila management thorugh multiple formats including: grower meetings, academic presentations, and viaonline newsletters and podcasts. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Continue research and extension activities pertaining to USDA OREI and MITPPC grant funding on spotted-wing drosophila managment. Pursue new grant opportunities to fund new research directions related to cultural management techniques and botanical repellents for SWD.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Accomplishments related to goal 1: Lab work was published in the journal Insects, titled "Deterrent effects of essentialoils on spotted-wing drosophila (Drosophila suzukii): Implications for organic management inberry crops." We conducted laboratory and field studies to determine the efficacy of botanical products (lavender oil, catnip oil, KeyPlex Ecotrol®PLUS, and KeyPlex Sporan®EC2) on preventing SWD infestation in raspberry and blueberry crops. Under laboratory conditions lavender oil, Ecotrol, and Sporan deterred SWD from diet. In the field trials, Ecotrol deterred SWD from raspberries; however, no differences were seen in blueberry infestation. Additional field work was completed in summer, 2020, and data is being analyzed. A field study was completed in 2020 investigatingaugmentative releases of pupal parasitoidPachycrepoideus vindemmiaein primocane-bearing red raspberries in high tunnels for suppression of SWD. Results show parasitism is successfully occurring in the tunnel environment, however, is not sufficient to significantly reduce fruit infestation in conditions of high population pressure. Additional management tactics are needed. Accomplishments related to goal 2: Research was completed for MDA AGRI grant title "Improving sustainable management practices for SWD, an emerging pest of small fruit in MN", project end date June 30, 2020. A final report was filed. Field data show that temperature in tunnels tends to be warmer during the day but equal to low temperatures in open field environments. Relative humidity in tunnels (max and min) is very similar to open field environments. Plastic over tunnels influences light quality, but our data so far show little effect of this on fruit quality (total soluble solids, marketable fruit, pH). Tunnel production tends to produce higher quality fruit than open field environments, and sometimes higher overall yield. Controlled environments can provide shelter for SWD if SWD are able to successfully colonize structures. The microclimate in the tunnels has little effect on SWD fruit infestation. Pollination can increase berry yield and quality in raspberry production, however it is not clear from our research whether introducing bumblebee pollinators in tunnels results in clear benefits. Beneficial insects in raspberry tunnels were low in abundance.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Gullickson, M.; Flavin Hodge, C.; Hegeman, A.; Rogers, M. Deterrent Effects of Essential Oils on Spotted-Wing Drosophila (Drosophila suzukii): Implications for Organic Management in Berry Crops. Insects 2020, 11, 536.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Sch�neberg, T., Arsenault-Benoit, A., Taylor, C. M., Butler, B. R., Dalton, D. T., Walton, V. M., ... & Leach, H. (2020). Pruning of small fruit crops can affect habitat suitability for Drosophila suzukii. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 294, 106860. ISSN 0167-8809, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2020.106860.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Submitted Year Published: 2021 Citation: DiGiacomo, G., Gullickson, M., Rogers, M., Peterson, H., Hutchison, WD. 2021. Partial budget analysis of exclusion netting and insecticides for organic management of spotted-wing drosophila (Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura)) on small farms in the Upper Midwest. Submitted to J of Econ Ent
• Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Submitted Year Published: 2020 Citation: Gullickson, Matthew. (2020). Spotted-wing Drosophila: Investigating the Efficacy of Innovative and Alternative Management Techniques. Retrieved from the University of Minnesota Digital Conservancy, http://hdl.handle.net/11299/213057.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2020 Citation: November, 2019. Graduate student Matthew Gullickson presented: Deterrent effects of essential oils on spotted wing drosophila (Drosophila suzukii): Implications for organic management. Matthew Gullickson, Claire Hodge and Mary Rogers. Entomological Society of America conference, St. Louis, MO.

Progress 10/01/18 to 09/30/19

Outputs
Target Audience:October, 2018.Graduate student Gullickson presented onLethal and sub-lethal effects of novel insecticides on invasive spotted wing drosophila (Drosophila suzukii) at theUpper Midwest Invasive Species conference, Rochester, MN. Reaching approx. 20 attendees including researchers, land and water resource managers, environmental specialists, agricultural professionals, government agency staff, and nongovernmental organization staff October, 2018.Rogers (PI) presented state report on SWD and fruit research for the multistate NCCC212: Small Fruit & Viticulture meeting hosted by Washington State University. Reaching approx. 25 attendees including researchers and academics, fruit breeders, and industry representatives November, 2018. Graduate student Matthew Gullicksonpresented:Lethal and sub-lethal effects of novel insecticides on spotted-wing drosophila (Drosophila suzukii). Poster presented at the Entomological Society of America annual meeting, Vancouver, BC, Canada. Unknown number of people reached,graduate students, researchers, industry representatives,and faculty November, 2018. Rogers (PI)presented on research for the multistate WERA1021: Spotted Wing Drosophila Biology, Ecology, and Management meeting held a theEntomological Society of America annual meeting, in Vancouver, B.C. Presentation title:Protected high tunnel systems for spotted-wing drosophila: IPM advantages of poly and exclusion netting. Reaching approx. 30 attendees including graduate students, researchers, industry representatives,and faculty January, 2019.Graduate student Matthew Gullickson gave a talk on Investigating exclusion management strategies for spotted-wing drosophila at theMN Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association meeting, St. Cloud, MN, reaching approx. 30 attendees includingfarmers/growers andindustry professionals January, 2019.Rogers (PI) gave a presentation onOrganic management options for spotted-wing drosophila and economic impacts at theMN Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association meeting inSt. Cloud, MN. Reaching approx. 30 attendees includingfarmers/growers andindustry professionals March, 2019. Rogers (PI) presented grant updates on SWD management research in Minnesota at the annual USDA OREI SWD grant planning meeting in Atlanta, GA. Reaching approx. 30 attendees including researchers, graduate students and research technicians, farmers/growers, and industry consultants. June, 2019. Graduate student MatthewGullickson presented:Spotted-wing drosophila managementfor small-scale fruit production and the home garden. Research and outreach presentation at Minnesota Master Gardeners Conference, Chanhassen, MN. Reaching approx. 75 Master Gardeners June, 2019. Graduate student MatthewGullickson presented:Hands-on spotted-wing drosophila and beneficial insect demonstration at Ramsey County Fair. Outreach activity at Ramsey Country Fair, Maplewood, MN. Reaching approx. 75 attendees from the general public August, 2019.Graduate student MatthewGullickson presented:Integrated pest management for spotted-wing drosophila. Research presented at University of Minnesota Organic Open House, St. Paul, MN. Reaching approx. 25 attendees including undergraduate students, graduate students, and general public September, 2019. Graudate student Matthew Gullickson presented:Organic research efforts at the University of Minnesota for spotted-wing drosophila management. Research presented at University of Minnesota Organic Open House, St. Paul, MN. Approx. 25 attendees included UMN undergraduate students, staff, and faculty Changes/Problems:Funding for biological control research for spotted wing drosophila provided by: USDA-NIFA-2018-51300-28434 What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Opportunities for the graduate student researcher (Gullickson) to attend and present at the annual Entomological Society of America conference in 2018 and 2019. Gullickson was also successfully awarded an NC-SARE graduate student grant to continue research on SWD management. Opportunities for a MN Agricultural Student Trainee from Brazil to learn how to maintain a SWD lab colony and identify SWD adults from traps. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?As part of this project, we have presented on spotted wing drosophila management thorugh multipleformats including: Master Gardener workshops, grower meetings, academic presentations, and via online newsletters. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Continue research and extension activities pertaining to active USDA OREI, MITPPC, and MN Dept. of Ag grants on spotted wing drosophila management Pursue new grant opportunities to fund new research directions related to these efforts

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Accomplishments related to goal 1: Lab and field research has been in progress on NOP compliant and biopesticides for SWD management.Results have been published in Gullickson et al. 2019. In the field, few alternatives show efficacy comparable to that of Entrust (spinosad), the organic product used by most commercial fruit growers. Ongoing research on exclusion practices/controlled enviornments for physical protection fromSWD show that SWD can be effectively excluded with fine mesh netting, although netting has to be installed early, and once SWD are able to colonize the tunnel environment, pest pressure can build very rapidly and even surpass fruit infestation in the field. Results will be submitted for publication in 2020. Our first field study using releases of pupal parasitoids against SWD in tunnels show little reduction in fruit infestation. In 2020, plans include increasing the number of parasitoid releases. Accomplishments related to goal 2: Field data show that temperature in tunnels tends to be warmer during the day butequal to low temperatures in open field environments. Relative humidity in tunnels (max and min) is very similar to open field environments. Plastic over tunnels influences light quality, but our data so far show little effect of this on fruit quality (total soluble solids, marketable fruit, pH). Tunnel production tends to produce higher quality fruit than open field environments, and sometimes higher overall yield. Controlled environments can provide shelter for SWD if SWD are able to successfully colonize structures. The microclimate in the tunnels has little effect on SWD fruit infestation. Pollination can increase berry yield and quality in raspberry production, however it is not clear from our research whether introducing bumblebee pollinators in tunnels results in clear benefits. Beneficial insects in raspberry tunnels were low in abundance.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Gullickson, M. G., Rogers, M. A., Burkness, E. C., & Hutchison, W. D. (2019). Efficacy of organic and conventional insecticides for Drosophila suzukii when combined with erythritol, a non-nutritive feeding stimulant. Crop Protection, 125, 104878.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Anderson, H. C., Rogers, M. A., & Hoover, E. E. (2019). Low Tunnel Covering and Microclimate, Fruit Yield, and Quality in an Organic Strawberry Production System. HortTechnology, 1(aop), 1-9.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Sial, A. A., Roubos, C. R., Gautam, B. K., Fanning, P. D., Van Timmeren, S., Spies, J., ... & Curry, S. Evaluation of organic insecticides for management of spotted?wing drosophila (Drosophila suzukii) in berry crops. Journal of Applied Entomology.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: DiGiacomo, G., Hadrich, J., Hutchison, W. D., Peterson, H., & Rogers, M. (2019). Economic Impact of Spotted Wing Drosophila (Diptera: Drosophilidae) Yield Loss on Minnesota Raspberry Farms: A Grower Survey. Journal of Integrated Pest Management, 10(1), 11.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Rendon, D., Hamby, K. A., Arsenault?Benoit, A. L., Taylor, C. M., Evans, R. K., Roubos, C. R., ... & Fanning, P. (2019). Mulching as a cultural control strategy for Drosophila suzukii in blueberry. Pest management science.