Progress 09/01/24 to 08/31/25
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audiences for this reporting period were organic and transitional farmers, as well as agricultural students. Academic audiences included lead scientists, faculty, graduate students, and postdoctoral scholars. Collaborating farmers in Ohio and Pennsylvania, who expressed strong interest in testing ASD and steaming, were identified for further research. In particular, organic and transitional farmers in Lancaster County, PA, especially those facing nematode infestations in high tunnels, were prioritized. We secured IRB approval, successfully compiled a draft dataset which needs currating of more than 5,000 organic farmers for survey distribution, established connections with over 15 farmers for interviews, and conducted a pilot draft survey. Our target audiences for our annual progress for this period was successfully reached. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Faculty, postdoctoral scholar, and graduate studentsattended and spoke togrowers at the Pasa Annual Conference which is a place to network with farmers and industry.Additional trainings will be provided as the project progresses. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?A PSUextenstion piece was created and exisits online to inform communities of interest about the adoption of new agricultural technologies for farmers. The goal of disseminating this information was to provide more information for high tunnel growers and the public about farmer decision-making. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The next reporting period will involve additional collection of field data (disease incidence, severity, soil metrics, nutrient analyses, pathogens) from hightunnels at the ARS station and we will work with farmers that already have some organic operations or are thinking about transitioning to organic. In the next period farmers will be surveyed about their willingness to use sustainable techniques such as ASD or soil steaming on their operations. Personnel will collect, analyze, andpresent results at conferences and grower meetings.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Our broad goals were to conduct management trials on-station and to create in-person and online draft surveys to help organic and transitional farmers reduce high tunnel soilborne diseases. Objective 1: We initiated ARS on-station trials for ASD and steaming and, through various experimental treatments, successfully infested research plots with the pathogens of interest. Trials were also prepared and scheduled for the fall. Soil temperature and reduction data based on IRIS tubes continued to be analyzed, pathogen populations were quantified, and a qPCR assay was developed and optimized. Protocols were also established to maintain and multiply soilborne pathogens for this project. On-station trials were conducted at the Ohio State Wooster Campus to determine the impacts of soil steaming, anaerobic soil disinfestation, and treatment timing on soilborne disease severity, soil health, and soil microbial communities. The graduate student created and used quantitative (qPCR) assays to assess soil pathogen populations in on-station trials, and research high tunnel soils were infested with soilborne pathogens for the second year of on-station trials and for use in collaborating farmers' on-farm trials. Key farmers interested in participating were recruited. Nematode pathogens were isolated, including the problematic root-knot nematode Meloidogyne javanica. Greenhouse cultures were developed from nematodes collected from infected tomato plants in a high tunnel located in Lancaster County. We successfully completed approximately 80 percent of the literature review, which covered soil health and pathogens, adoption factors, motivations and barriers for technology use, communication preferences, and adoption models such as TPB, DOI, TAM, ADOPT, and TTF. Conceptual frameworks and research hypotheses were developed. Methodologies were finalized, including the online survey instrument, which will be administered via Qualtrics statistical software, as well as in-person farmer interviews. An interview protocol was developed, and data collection remains in progress. Objective 2: This objective is progressing as planned and still in the data collection phase; soil microbial community soils from various treatmentsare currently being sampledfor analysis later this year. Objective 3: To better understand the factors that influence farmers' willingness to adopt sustainable soilborne disease management techniques, the graduate student conducted a literature review of theories and models of innovation adoption. The student also began developing survey instruments to be implemented in the next reporting period. Specifically, a farmer survey and interview questions were designed to explore factors that influence adoption of ASD and soil steaming. These instruments aim to capture both quantitative and qualitative data related to farmers' experiences, perceptions, and challenges. The instruments underwent an initial evaluation for face validity to ensure clarity, relevance, and appropriateness. Informal feedback from subject-matter experts, stakeholders, and the student's committee informed revisions that improved both the survey and the interview questions.
Publications
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