Pennsylvania Fruit News VOLUME 94 February 2014 NO. 1 INSIDE THIS ISSUE... Chairman’s Report, SHAP Research Committee By Phil Baugher President’s Message .................................................. 4 Editorial Views ......................................................... 4 Ag Issues Update ...................................................... 5 In Memory – Ronald Kump....................................... 8 Scott Brown Memorial Scholarship Announcement 2014 ........................................... 9 Thinning Tall Spindle Apple Based on Estimations Made With a Hand-thinning Gauge ..................... 9 2013 Scott Brown Memorial Scholarship Recipients .......................................................... 10 International Fruit Pest Targeted by Genomic Research ............................................................ 12 Maintenance of High Epidermal Cell Density and Reduced Calyx-end Cracking in Developing ‘Pink Lady’ Apples Treated With a Combination of Cytokinin 6-benzyladenine and Gibberellins A4+A7................................................................. 13 Chinese Expected to Remove Ban on Certain U.S. Apples ............................................................... 13 2013 Research Reports Assessment of Cross-Resistance to Site-Specific Fungicides in Populations of Venturia inaequalis (scab fungus) and Monilinia fructicola (brown rot fungus) in Pennsylvania Orchards ...................... 15 Impact of Summer Disease Management on Storage Rot of Apple....................................................... 18 Understanding Biology and Behavior of Brown Marmorated Stink Bug as a Basis for Development of Management Programs in Fruit Orchards ....... 20 Implementation and Validation of a Network of Electronic Traps for Automated Monitoring of Insect Pest Populations in Apple Orchards ......... 25 Labor Efficient Apple and Peach Systems for Profitability ........................................................ 30 Cropland and Fruit Nutrient Studies in Commercial Honeycrisp Orchards to Determine Best Practices for Minimizing Bitter Pit ...................... 37 Biological Control of Mites in Pennsylvania and Maryland Apple Orchards.................................. 41 A Cooperative Survey of the Spotted Wing Drosophilia and Other Invasive Fruit Flies in Various Pennsylvania and Maryland Fruit Crops ..52 Rootstock Research Update, 2014 .......................... 59 Second Generation Apple Training System Trials – 2014 ...................................................... 64 Development of Antibiotic Resistance in Bacterial Spot of Peach and Nectarine .............................. 68 Isolation and Characterization of Postharvest Fungal Plant Pathogens of Apple Fruit in Pennsylvania with Implications for Decay Management ...................................................... 72 Development and Application of a Rapid Dye-based Method to Determine Pesticide Resistance in Pre- and Postharvest Tree Fruit Pathogens ................. 79 Effects of Sublethal Exposures to Insecticides on Mobility, Feeding, and Reproduction in the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug ....................................... 81 Dr. Carl S. Bittner Travel Fellowship Award............ 86 2014 Membership Dues Form ................................ 87 The Research Committee met yesterday at the Fruit Research and Extension Center in Biglerville. Sixteen research proposals were presented during the morning session followed by lunch. The afternoon session provided the opportunity for committee members to discuss the projects. We had excellent proposals submitted again this year which made for a very difficult process. I think all committee members would agree that it was not an easy task. At the end of the day twelve projects were selected to move forward as our recommendations to the SHAP Executive Committee for final approval. These twelve proposals will receive a total of just under $200,000 in funding. It is worthy to mention that the response to our call for proposals attracted participation from 27 scientists including four graduate students. These four students are all in PhD programs at Penn State University and were very impressive in their presentations. It is gratifying to report that these research funds are helping some of the best and brightest students in their quest to complete their graduate degrees. I would also like to report some news regarding the efforts of the industry to increase our support of tree fruit research. At the February meeting of the board of directors of Knouse Foods Cooperative, the board voted to increase the match from 1¢ per cwt to 2¢ per cwt. This means that for every penny a grower contributes to research through the Apple Research Check-off Program, Knouse Foods will match with 2 pennies. It sounds like a small amount, but based on historic participation, this has the potential to increase industry support by 20 thousand dollars annually. For the first time this year, the Mid Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable Convention in Hershey provided the opportunity to the scientists that received funding from the SHAP Research program to participate in a poster session. These posters were displayed in the hallway outside of the Aztec and Nigerian rooms throughout the three day convention. We would like to thank the scientists for their efforts in preparing these posters and presentations of their work. We hope the membership finds this to be a positive addition to the convention. It’s difficult to write this letter without some mention of the weather. It has been cold! As I look out my office window there appears to be some hint of a spring thaw, yet the threat of another stretch of sub-freezing temperatures for next week is looming. I suppose spring will arrive at some point and the 2014 growing season will be upon us. Here’s to a productive and rewarding season!!
Transcript
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PennsylvaniaFruit News
VOLUME 94 February 2014 NO. 1
INSIDE THIS ISSUE... Chairman’s Report, SHAP Research CommitteeBy Phil Baugher
President’s Message ..................................................4Editorial Views .........................................................4Ag Issues Update ......................................................5In Memory – Ronald Kump .......................................8Scott Brown Memorial Scholarship Announcement 2014 ...........................................9Thinning Tall Spindle Apple Based on Estimations Made With a Hand-thinning Gauge .....................92013 Scott Brown Memorial Scholarship Recipients ..........................................................10International Fruit Pest Targeted by Genomic Research ............................................................12Maintenance of High Epidermal Cell Density and Reduced Calyx-end Cracking in Developing ‘Pink Lady’ Apples Treated With a Combination of Cytokinin 6-benzyladenine and Gibberellins A4+A7 .................................................................13Chinese Expected to Remove Ban on Certain U.S. Apples ...............................................................132013 Research ReportsAssessment of Cross-Resistance to Site-Specific Fungicides in Populations of Venturia inaequalis (scab fungus) and Monilinia fructicola (brown rot fungus) in Pennsylvania Orchards ......................15Impact of Summer Disease Management on Storage Rot of Apple.......................................................18Understanding Biology and Behavior of Brown Marmorated Stink Bug as a Basis for Development of Management Programs in Fruit Orchards .......20Implementation and Validation of a Network of Electronic Traps for Automated Monitoring of Insect Pest Populations in Apple Orchards .........25Labor Efficient Apple and Peach Systems for Profitability ........................................................30Cropland and Fruit Nutrient Studies in Commercial Honeycrisp Orchards to Determine Best Practices for Minimizing Bitter Pit ......................37Biological Control of Mites in Pennsylvania and Maryland Apple Orchards..................................41A Cooperative Survey of the Spotted Wing Drosophilia and Other Invasive Fruit Flies in Various Pennsylvania and Maryland Fruit Crops ..52Rootstock Research Update, 2014 ..........................59Second Generation Apple Training System Trials – 2014 ......................................................64Development of Antibiotic Resistance in Bacterial Spot of Peach and Nectarine ..............................68Isolation and Characterization of Postharvest Fungal Plant Pathogens of Apple Fruit in Pennsylvania with Implications for Decay Management ......................................................72Development and Application of a Rapid Dye-based Method to Determine Pesticide Resistance in Pre- and Postharvest Tree Fruit Pathogens .................79Effects of Sublethal Exposures to Insecticides on Mobility, Feeding, and Reproduction in the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug .......................................81Dr. Carl S. Bittner Travel Fellowship Award ............862014 Membership Dues Form ................................87
The Research Committee met yesterday at the Fruit Research and Extension Center in Biglerville. Sixteen research proposals were presented during the morning session followed by lunch. The afternoon session provided the opportunity for committee members to discuss the projects. We had excellent proposals submitted again this year which made for a very difficult process. I think all committee members would agree that it was not an easy task. At the end of the day twelve projects were selected to move forward as our recommendations to the SHAP Executive Committee for final approval. These twelve proposals will receive a total of just under $200,000 in funding.
It is worthy to mention that the response to our call for proposals attracted participation from 27 scientists including four graduate students. These four students are all in PhD programs at Penn State University and were very impressive in their presentations. It is gratifying to report that these research funds are helping some of the best and brightest students in their quest to complete their graduate degrees.
I would also like to report some news regarding the efforts of the industry to increase our support of tree fruit research. At the February meeting of the board of directors of Knouse Foods Cooperative, the board voted to increase the match from 1¢ per cwt to 2¢ per cwt. This means that for every penny a grower contributes to research through the Apple Research Check-off Program, Knouse Foods will match with 2 pennies. It sounds like a small amount, but based on historic participation, this has the potential to increase industry support by 20 thousand dollars annually.
For the first time this year, the Mid Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable Convention in Hershey provided the opportunity to the scientists that received funding from the SHAP Research program to participate in a poster session. These posters were displayed in the hallway outside of the Aztec and Nigerian rooms throughout the three day convention. We would like to thank the scientists for their efforts in preparing these posters and presentations of their work. We hope the membership finds this to be a positive addition to the convention.
It’s difficult to write this letter without some mention of the weather. It has been cold! As I look out my office window there appears to be some hint of a spring thaw, yet the threat of another stretch of sub-freezing temperatures for next week is looming. I suppose spring will arrive at some point and the 2014 growing season will be upon us. Here’s to a productive and rewarding season!!
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We strive to produce quality trees for the commercial industry. Let us help you get started.
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Begin well.
End well.
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EXECUTIVE BOARDPRESIDENT
Matthew Boyer, Boyer Orchards, 4116 Cortland Drive,New Paris, PA 15554 — (814) 839-4715
1st VICE PRESIDENTEd Weaver, Weaver’s Orchard,
40 Fruit Lane,Morgantown, PA 19543 — (610) 856-7300
Leonard Tate, Leonard L. Tate Orchards,4100 Carlisle Road,Gardners, PA 17324 — (717) 486-3839
Tim Weiser, Weiser Orchards,830 Old Rt. 15,York Springs, PA 17372 — (717) 528-8321
EXECUTIVE SECRETARYMaureen Irvin
State Horticultural Association of PA480 Mountain Road, Orrtanna, PA 17353Phone (717) 677-4184 or Fax (717) 677-9636E-mail address: [email protected]: shaponline.org
EDITORDr. Rob Crassweller
102 Tyson Building,Penn State UniversityUniversity Park, PA 16802Phone (814) 863-6163
EX-OFFICIOSBrad Hollabaugh — Immediate Past President
SHAPDepartment of Entomology, PSU
Dr. Larry A. HullDr. Greg Krawczyk
Department of Horticulture, PSUDr. Robert CrasswellerDr. James Schupp
Department of Plant Pathology, PSUDr. James Travis
PSU Cooperative ExtensionDr. Tara Baugher
PA Apple Marketing ProgramKarin Rodriguez, Executive Director
Department of HorticultureDelaware Valley CollegeDr. Barbara Muse
COMMERCIAL REPRESENTATIVEMark ShannonSuterra LLC105 Beecherstown RoadBiglerville, PA 17307
Pennsylvania Fruit News ISSN1090-1264Published Monthly with the exception of a combined issue in December/January
STATE HORTICULTURAL ASSOCIATION OF PENNSYLVANIAPeriodical Postage Paid at Cashtown, PA 17310
POSTMASTER: Send Address Change to State Horticultural Association of Pennsylvania,Orrtanna, PA 17353
State Horticultural Association of Pennsylvania
PERIODICALS
POSTMASTER: If undeliverable, send notice ofForm No. 3579 to State Hort. Association of PA,ORRTANNA, PA 17353
ADVERTISINGCLASSIFIED ADS are available to members at thefollowing rates:
$12.00 - 3 lines plus, $20.00 - 6 lines plus,60 cents for each 60 cents for eachadditional word. additional word.
For all advertising information, please contact MaureenIrvin at (717) 677-4184.
Leonard Tate, Leonard L. Tate Orchards,4100 Carlisle Road,Gardners, PA 17324 — (717) 486-3839
Tim Weiser, Weiser Orchards,830 Old Rt. 15,York Springs, PA 17372 — (717) 528-8321
EXECUTIVE SECRETARYMaureen Irvin
State Horticultural Association of PA480 Mountain Road, Orrtanna, PA 17353Phone (717) 677-4184 or Fax (717) 677-9636E-mail address: [email protected]: shaponline.org
EDITORDr. Rob Crassweller
102 Tyson Building,Penn State UniversityUniversity Park, PA 16802Phone (814) 863-6163
EX-OFFICIOSBrad Hollabaugh — Immediate Past President
SHAPDepartment of Entomology, PSU
Dr. Larry A. HullDr. Greg Krawczyk
Department of Horticulture, PSUDr. Robert CrasswellerDr. James Schupp
Department of Plant Pathology, PSUDr. James Travis
PSU Cooperative ExtensionDr. Tara Baugher
PA Apple Marketing ProgramKarin Rodriguez, Executive Director
Department of HorticultureDelaware Valley CollegeDr. Barbara Muse
COMMERCIAL REPRESENTATIVEMark ShannonSuterra LLC105 Beecherstown RoadBiglerville, PA 17307
Pennsylvania Fruit News ISSN1090-1264Published Monthly with the exception of a combined issue in December/January
STATE HORTICULTURAL ASSOCIATION OF PENNSYLVANIAPeriodical Postage Paid at Cashtown, PA 17310
POSTMASTER: Send Address Change to State Horticultural Association of Pennsylvania,Orrtanna, PA 17353
State Horticultural Association of Pennsylvania
PERIODICALS
POSTMASTER: If undeliverable, send notice ofForm No. 3579 to State Hort. Association of PA,ORRTANNA, PA 17353
ADVERTISINGCLASSIFIED ADS are available to members at thefollowing rates:
$12.00 - 3 lines plus, $20.00 - 6 lines plus,60 cents for each 60 cents for eachadditional word. additional word.
For all advertising information, please contact MaureenIrvin at (717) 677-4184.
EXECUTIVE BOARDPRESIDENT Tim Weiser, Weiser Orchards 830 Old Rt. 15, York Springs, PA 17372 — (717) 528-8321
1st VICE PRESIDENT Tad Kuntz, Masonic Village Orchard 1 Masonic Drive, Elizabethtown, PA 17022 — (717) 361-4520
2nd VICE PRESIDENT Chris Baugher, Adams County Nursery P.O. Box 108, Aspers, PA 17304 — (717) 677-8105
ELECTED COMMITTEE Steven Johnston, Apple Castle LLC 277 State Route 18, New Wilmington, PA 16142 — (724) 652-3221
Ben Keim, Keim Orchards 270 Poplar Road, Boyertown, PA 19512 — (484) 332-5664
Brian Knouse, Knouse Fruitlands Inc. P.O. Box 388 Arendtsville, PA 17303-0549 — (717) 677-8842
Carolyn McQuiston, Dawson’s Orchards 122 Petersburg Road, Enon Valley, PA 16120 — (724) 667-7719
Karen Paulus, Paulus Orchards 522 E. Mount Airy Road, Dillsburg, PA 17019 — (717) 432-2544
Leonard Tate, Leonard L. Tate Orchards 4100 Carlisle Road, Gardners, PA 17324 — (717) 486-3839
EXECUTIVE SECRETARY Maureen Irvin State Horticultural Association of PA 480 Mountain Road, Orrtanna, PA 17353 Phone (717) 677-4184 or Fax (717) 677-9636 E-mail address: [email protected] Website: shaponline.org
EDITOR Dr. Rob Crassweller 102 Tyson Building, Penn State University University Park, PA 16802 Phone (814) 863-6163
EX-OFFICIOS Ed Weaver — Immediate Past President SHAP
Department of Horticulture Penn State University Dr. Robert Crassweller
Penn State FREC Dr. James Schupp Dr. Greg Krawczyk Dr. David Biddinger
PSU Cooperative Extension Dr. Tara Baugher
PA Apple Marketing Program Julie Bancroft
Department of Horticulture Delaware Valley College Dr. Steve DeBroux
COMMERCIAL REPRESENTATIVE Mark Shannon 105 Beecherstown Road Biglerville, PA 17307
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President’s Message
1/2 BUSHEL PEACH CRATESFOUR D LUMBER
RR#2, Box 193-A • Thompsontown, PA 17094
Distributor: BOYER NURSERY AND ORCHARDS 405 Boyer Nursery Road Biglerville, PA 17307 717-677-8558 717-677-9567
Editorial ViewsBy Dr. Rob Crassweller
If this winter is Global warming, I’m glad to see it. It has been twenty years since we had a cold spell like this.I would like to thank Carolyn McQuiston for doing an excellent job as president of SHAP for the past two years.For those of you who don’t know me, we farm as far north in Adams County as you can get. We have 110 acres of fruit, 20 acres of vegetables, four acres of PYO blueberries, 550 acres of row crops and a retail farm market along Highway 15 north of York Springs. We also have a retail and wholesale greenhouse operation with 18,000 sq. ft. under plastic and two high tunnel tomato production greenhouses.The 2014 Farm Show is now history. Attendance was down but the SHAP and Young Growers Apple booths generated about $25,000.00 to use towards research. THANKS to everyone who donated many hours of work to these booths. Without your help the research money would not exist. The Mid Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable Convention at the end of January was very well attended. (The cold weather may have helped). We welcomed Virginia to the convention this year. I would like to congratulate Reed Soergel on receiving the 2013 Grower of the Year Award, and Bob Black on receiving Maryland’s Harry G. Black Award, and to the winners of all other categories. The keynote speaker, Steven Wiley, gave us plenty to think about in this rapidly changing world. I want to thank the convention committee, especially Maureen Irvin, Bill Troxell and all the other people who helped to make this convention a success.I hope you are getting pruning done, making plans for spring and hopefully had a chance to get away for some rest and relaxation. On a positive note about the cold weather, hopefully it will decrease some pests and diseases in our orchards.
Enjoy the rest of winter,Tim Weiser, President
Bits and PiecesThis seems to be the winter that will never end. While we may not have had record snow fall depth; we certainly have had record snow fall events. For several weeks it seems we had snow accumulation every other day. As I write this we are in a brief respite with temperatures in the 40’s. Next week, however, more below zero weather is predicted.
It has been hard to get pruning done with all the snow. I talked to a number of growers in the last two weeks and they are “mushing” on into the orchards. Some talk about purchasing special snow shoes and others are driving tractors into the orchard rows to beat down the snow so the pruners can get into the orchard. The pruners are also requiring more layers of clothing to keep warm.
The convention in Hershey was a success with many packed rooms to hear the speakers. Believe it or not, we will begin working on the meeting for next year early this spring. If you have any specific topics or speakers you would like to see at next year’s convention, drop me a note. The addition of the Virginia State Horticultural Society was a great addition and I am looking forward to continued collaboration with the growers and people from Virginia Tech.
The 8th Annual Mid-Atlantic Cider contest had the most entrants ever. We had 20 entries from around the region. The SHAP Cider committee also met during the week to discuss some changes for next year. We also discussed the problem of ‘tongue fatigue” and realize that we will need to come up with a different judging regiment. It is difficult to taste 20 ciders over such a short time. We also know that we need to get more publicity for the event. If you plan on entering the contest next year, consider letting your local newspaper know in advance to see if they want to cover the event. We are also hoping to develop a more substantial award for winning the competition. If you have any ideas, please let me know. Finally, we made preliminary plans to develop a Hard Cider contest; this idea, however was nixed by the Hershey Lodge. A group of interested individuals will continue to pursue this idea at possibly a different location and/or time.
Finally, spring is hopefully just around the corner with Punxsutawney Phil predicting spring to begin 6 weeks late. Haven’t figured out how Phil cannot help but see his shadow each winter since all the television cameras and light illuminate Gobbler’s Nob each year. The past two springs have been anything but normal with 2012 being so early and 2013 being more normal but having a very late
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PRESIDENT SIgNS FARM BILLOn Friday, February 7, President Obama signed the Farm Bill into law in Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow’s home state of Michigan. A number of growers were on hand for the ceremony, including USApple Board Members Julia Rothwell and Fred Leitz and Michigan Apple Committee Executive Director, Diane Smith.
Completion of the Farm Bill represents a significant victory for apples and other specialty crops. The legislation maintains or expands funding for all of our priority programs including the Market Access Program (MAP), Specialty Crop Block Grants, and Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Snack Program.
Importantly, the legislation restores funding for the Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI) and Clean Plant Network which lost funding under the 2008 extension. Earlier versions of the legislation put new restrictions on crop insurance but the final package will not have any negative impact on funding of the apple crop insurance program.
USApple will be working independently and with the Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance (SCFBA) to ensure that implementation goes smoothly as well as to fight any efforts to cut or make negative changes to the programs.
Eleven members of Pennsylvania’s Congressional delegation supported the bill with Reps. Robert Brady, Matthew Cartwright, Scott Perry, Joseph Pitts, Keith Rothfus and Chaka Fattah voting against it. Rep. Mike Doyle did not vote. In the Senate, both PA Senators, Bob Casey and Pat Toomey, voted against the bill. (Apple Bites, US Apple, 2/10/2014)
AgRICULTURE & BUSINESS TEAM UP FOR IMMIgRATION REFORMUSApple and the Agriculture Workforce Coalition (AWC) are working with the bipartisan Partnership for a New American Economy (PNAE) to draw attention to the needs of agriculture in the immigration reform debate. PNAE is a coalition of more than 500 Republican, Democratic and Independent mayors and business leaders who support immigration reform as a pro-business, pro-jobs policy.
The agriculture initiative is called #ifarmimmigration and is the first of what is expected to be a number of targeted campaigns spearheaded by PNAE over the next several months.
Ag Alliance Issues Update - February 2014Edited by Brad Hollabaugh
frost. This being an even year, I seem to have more trees to plant in the orchard. We will be planting a new NC-140 planting featuring the new Vineland series of rootstocks from Canada as well as some new larger Cornell Geneva rootstocks. We also are replacing some peach trees that we killed by pruning them in December as part of the Horticulture 432 class on tree fruit production. Adding a few new varieties to my collection as well will result in a busy spring. Amazing that no matter what happened last year in the orchard, we are always looking forward to the coming season. I guess that is why we enjoy growing horticultural crops.
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EDITORIAL VIEWS continued from page 4
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The kickoff of the agriculture campaign was a briefing for congressional staff held on February 5. It was held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the National Council of Agricultural Employers (NCAE), which USApple’s Diane Kurrle attended along with several USApple leaders. USApple Board member Fred Leitz was one of six growers who spoke at the briefing which attracted bipartisan congressional staff from across the country. (Apple Bites, US Apple, 2/10/2014)
CONgRESSIONAL REPUBLICANS RELEASE STANDARDS FOR IMMIgRATION REFORMAt the end of January, Speaker Boehner released a statement of principles for immigration reform. The full text is readily available on the Internet. Below are the highlights of that statement:
Our nation’s immigration system is broken and our laws are not being enforced. Washington’s failure to fix them is hurting our economy and jeopardizing our national security. The overriding purpose of our immigration system is to promote and further America’s national interests and that is not the case today.
The serious problems in our immigration system must be solved, and we are committed to working in a bipartisan manner to solve them. But they cannot be solved with a single, massive piece of legislation that few have read and even fewer understand, and therefore, we will not go to a conference with the Senate’s immigration bill. The problems in our immigration system must be solved through a step-by-step, common-sense approach that starts with securing our country’s borders, enforcing our laws, and implementing robust enforcement measures. These are the principals guiding us in that effort:
• Border Security and Interior Enforcement Must Come First - It is the fundamental duty of any government to secure its borders, and the United States is failing in this mission. We must secure our borders now and verify that they are secure. In addition, we must ensure now that when immigration reform is enacted, there will be a zero tolerance policy for those who cross the border illegally or overstay their visas in the future.
• Implement Entry-Exit Visa Tracking System - A fully functioning Entry-Exit system has been mandated by eight separate statutes over the last 17 years. At least three of these laws call for this system to be biometric, using technology to verify identity and prevent fraud. We must implement this system so we can identify and track down visitors who abuse our laws.-
• Employment Verification and Workplace Enforcement - In the 21st century it is unacceptable that the majority of employees have their work eligibility verified through a paper based system wrought with fraud. It is past time for this country to
fully implement a workable electronic employment verification system.
• Reforms to the Legal Immigration System - The goal of any temporary worker program should be to address the economic needs of the country and to strengthen our national security by allowing for realistic, enforceable, usable, legal paths for entry into the United States. Of particular concern are the needs of the agricultural industry, among others. It is imperative that these temporary workers are able to meet the economic needs of the country and do not displace or disadvantage American workers.
• Youth - One of the great founding principles of our country was that children would not be punished for the mistakes of their parents. It is time to provide an opportunity for legal residence and citizenship for those who were brought to this country as children through no fault of their own, those who know no other place as home. For those who meet certain eligibility standards, and serve honorably in our military or attain a college degree, we will do just that.
• Individuals Living Outside the Rule of Law - Our national and economic security depend on requiring people who are living and working here illegally to come forward and get right with the law. There will be no special path to citizenship for individuals who broke our nation’s immigration laws – that would be unfair to those immigrants who have played by the rules and harmful to promoting the rule of law. Rather, these persons could live legally and without fear in the U.S., but only if they were willing to admit their culpability, pass rigorous background checks, pay significant fines and back taxes, develop proficiency in English and American civics, and be able to support themselves and their families (without access to public benefits).
BOEHNER BACkPEDALS ON IMMIgRATION REFORMAbout a week after he released the Principles on Immigration, Speaker Boehner announced that it was unlikely that he could get a bill in immigration reform passed in the House. He made reference to many Republicans that were still balking about immigration reform measures. Further, he alluded to an undercurrent of distrust in terms of the administration’s ability to effectively enforce any new measures passed by Congress.
CLEAN WATER ACT PROPOSAL NEEDS FARMER INPUT American Farm Bureau Federation is encouraging its members to contact their representatives as the Environmental Protection Agency seeks to expand its jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act.
The proposed rules, which are not yet open to public comment, would give the EPA authority under the Clean
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Water Act to virtually every water body in the United States. That would also include ditches and farm fields that carry runoff during rain and flooding events. During a workshop held at the 95th AFBF annual convention, farmers were encouraged to contact their Congressional representatives and talk about how these new regulations would impact their farm.
“Grassroots action on this issue is going to be hugely important,” said Don Parrish, AFBF’s senior director of regulatory relations. “Help them understand that this issue is important to you.”
The Clean Water Act began in 1972 as an attempt to reduce water pollution in the nation’s navigable rivers and streams. The act helped curtail the practices of discharging raw pollutants into waterways and established regulatory programs that required permits limiting the volume of pollutants. Since then, the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers have made several attempts to expand the scope of the program, including the definition of “navigable waters,” to include wetlands, ditches and temporary water features created by seasonal flooding.
The new proposed rules will attempt to expand the EPA authority to many of those water features and will not create an exemption for many normal farm practices, said Virginia Albrecht, an environmental and natural resources attorney. Albrecht said she expects the proposed rules will soon be open for a 60-day comment period. Once the rules are open for public comments, it will be crucial for a record number of farmers to submit comments, Albrecht said.
FARM BUREAU WELCOMES TPA BILLThe American Farm Bureau Federation is encouraged by the introduction of Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) legislation in Congress, which is a step forward to advancing U.S. proposals to reduce tariffs and improve market access.
“This trade negotiation authority is needed now,” said AFBF President Bob Stallman. “For negotiations to keep moving forward on the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) discussions, we need the TPA authority in place. We urge Congress to pass the bill without delay and show that the United States is committed to completing these trade negotiations.”
The legislation, if passed, will restore the President’s authority to negotiate trade deals Congress can pass or reject, but not amend. Without this legislation, other countries are hesitant to finalize trade deals over concerns the agreements could be amended by Congress.
“For U.S. agriculture to thrive, we have to correct these disparities and level the playing field,” Stallman said. U.S. agriculture benefits greatly from exports. According to
AFBF, about one out of every three acres in the country is planted for export and farmers earn about 25 percent of their income from overseas trade.
TAX PROVISIONS EXPIRE Several key tax provisions that helped farmers with their business expenses have expired or modified. However, it’s expected that Congress will revisit the issue in early 2014.
One provision is known as Section 179, which allows small businesses to immediately expense certain items instead of depreciating them over time. The maximum amount farmers and other small business owners had been allowed to expense had been set at $500,000 but it has now been lowered to $25,000.
The House Ways and Means Committee, which had spent much of 2013 studying tax reform, had recommended a $250,000 tax reform limit. The Senate Finance Committee had proposed a one-year extension of the current law, followed by a $1 million limit. Bonus depreciation, another key tax provision, has also expired.
Farmers used the provision during new equipment purchases, allowing them to better match income and expenses.
WAUgH TO RUN FARM SHOWA York County Senator has stepped down from his job and has accepted a position leading the Pennsylvania Farm Show complex. Senator Mike Waugh is replacing Pat Kerwin, who is stepping down as the facility’s director, a position he has held since 2005. Waugh represented York County in the Pennsylvania Senate for 15 years, and had served in the House of Representatives for five years.
Waugh operates Glen Ridge Farm, an equine, hay and grain operation. He regularly competes in the draft horse competitions at the Farm Show.
“We are honored Mike has agreed to take on the job of directing the Pennsylvania Farm Show and Expo Center,“ said Governor Tom Corbett, “Under Mike’s leadership, I know our center will remain the world standard for showcasing the business of agriculture … and the values of the Pennsylvania farmer.”
Waugh has served for nearly 15 years as a Farm Show Commissioner. Kerwin, who will serve in an advisory capacity during the transition, is credited with increasing revenue at the Farm Show complex, including public private partnerships that have brought $225,000 annually to the Farm Show Complex budget.
gAME COMMISSION HIRES TEMPORARY EXECUTIVE DIRECTORThe Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioner has named R. Matthew Hough as the new executive director. He replaces Carl Roe, who retired. Prior to his appointment Hough told the Game Commissioner that he plans on
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AG ISSUES continued from page 7
retiring sometime this year. The board of commissioners is continuing to look for a more permanent candidate.
Hough, who lives in Adams County, has served as the Game Commission’s deputy executive director. Hough has worked for the Game Commission for 33 years, starting as a wildlife conservation officer in Washington and Westmoreland counties. He previously served as a law enforcement supervisor, information and education supervisor and eventually as regional director for the commission’s Southwest Regional office. Hough has served as deputy executive director since 2010. Prior to his appointment, Hough had informed the commissioners that he intends to soon retire, and the board will continue to search for a more permanent candidate.
During his tenure, Hough said he will work to maintain stability within the agency, and complete a full review of the agency’s finances. He also believes that it is crucial for the agency’s workforce to remain at current levels in order for the commission to achieve its goals.
INNOVATIVE AgRICULTURAL CONCEPT RAISES CROPS ON A VERTICAL FARMA new concept to raise horticultural crops in a vertical setting is being planned for Northeast Pennsylvania. Green Spirit Farms LLC from Michigan has commercialized the concept of vertical farming that will produce leafy greens, peppers and tomatoes in an existing 300,000 square foot building located in Scranton.
Instead of growing crops in the ground, the vertical system utilizes industrial racks which accommodate four or five levels of vegetable crops planted in a particular horticultural growing medium in place of soil. Specialized artificial lighting is used to provide light to the crops.
Vertical farms are generally located in or near urban areas and are beginning to be implemented around the world. The produce will be grown throughout the year using less water and energy than traditional greenhouses or hydroponic systems.
PENNSYLVANIA PESTICIDE APPLICATORS ACTIVELY ENgAgED IN PESTICIDE CONTAINER RECYCLINgUnder the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture’s Plastic Pesticide Recycling Program, public and private pesticide applicators have been able to safely dispose of a high number of high density polyethylene plastic containers.
Seven regions have been designated throughout the State to provide locations where empty containers may be delivered. Beside pesticides, the containers may also have been used for crop oils, surfactants and fertilizers. The containers must first be free of all product residue inside and outside by rinsing three times or using the pressurized rinsing method.
The plastic will be converted into chips and made into
IN MEMORYRonald F. Kump
fence posts, pallets, marine pilings, field drain tiles and recycled for other uses. Agricultural producers and agribusinesses have been committed to the Plastic Pesticide Recycling Program which is now entering its twentieth year and has recycled more than 1.84 million pounds of plastic.
Ronald F. Kump, age 81 of Fairfield, PA died Thursday, October 10, 2013 at St. Catherine’s Nursing Center in Emmitsburg, Maryland. He was born in Cashtown, PA on November 25, 1931. Ron was the son of the late Floyd J. & Bessie (Sharrah) Kump. His wife of 55 years, Caroline Bollinger Kump died in 2008. He was a 1949 graduate of Gettysburg
High School. Ron was a member of St. John Lutheran Church in Fairfield, PA where he served on church council and was a past president of the church council. He served in the Pennsylvania National Guard for a number of years. Ron played professional baseball from 1949-1956 in the St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Dodgers minor league system. He was elected in 2006 to the Adams County Sports Hall of Fame for his athletic accomplishments. Ron owned and operated Ronald F. Kump Real Estate Co. for over 40 years and also operated Sun Crest Orchards in Fairfield until his death. He was a member of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, Adams County Fruit Growers Asso., Good Samaritan Lodge #336 in Gettysburg, Gettysburg American Legion Post #202, Gettysburg Eagles, Fairfield AmVets, life-member of the Gettysburg & Hanover Elks Club, Adams County Fish & Game and former member and past-president of the Gettysburg-Adams Chamber of Commerce. He also was an avid golfer for many years. Ron is survived by his two sons; Douglas Kump and wife Susan and David Kump and wife Sandra both of Fairfield, four grandchildren; Jason Kump and wife Jennifer, Aaron Kump, Troy Kump and wife Katie and Megan Bingham and husband Houston, three great grandchildren, Braden, Parker and Madison Kump, two sisters; June Garretson and husband Gerald of Hanover, PA and Marilyn Aust of Mechanicsburg, PA, sister-in-law, Mary Kessel, of Fairfield, PA and several nieces and nephews. A Memorial Service was held on Tuesday, October 15, 2013 at St. John Lutheran Church, Fairfield, PA. Memorials may be made to St. John Lutheran Church or Carroll County Hospice, 292 Stoner Avenue, Westminster, Maryland 21157.
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The State Horticultural Association of Pennsylvania (SHAP) announces the availability of a scholarship(s) for the 2014-2015 academic year for students who intend to pursue careers in the Pennsylvania fruit industry. The scholarship is named in memory of Scott Brown, a fruit grower who was known for his encouragement and leadership in the fruit industry and his own community. Scott was an active member of the Research and Endowment Fund committees of SHAP and past president of the York Fruit Growers Association.
The total number and amount of the scholarship(s) awarded will be determined at the discretion of the Scholarship Committee, based upon available funding, with a minimum of $500 to be awarded. Scholarship applicants must maintain full time enrollment in an undergraduate program at a university, college, community college or trade or technical school. Scholarships are open to high school seniors and students currently enrolled in a degree program. Applicants will be judged on their academic
performance record, community and civic involvements, leadership, and vision for their contribution to the Pennsylvania fruit industry. The award is not based on need.
To receive more information or an application, contact State Horticultural Society of Pennsylvania, Maureen Irvin, Executive Secretary, 480 Mountain Road, Orrtanna, PA 17353; phone (717) 677-4184; or email [email protected]. An application is also posted on the SHAP website at www.shaponline.org. Applications should be postmarked by April 1, 2014.
The recipients will be notified of selection by May 1, 2014.
SHAP invites individuals, companies and organizations to contribute to the scholarship fund. For more information on sponsorship opportunities, please contact Sidney Kuhn, Committee Chair at (717) 334-2722 or Maureen Irvin, Executive Secretary at (717) 677-4184.
Scott Brown Memorial Scholarship Announcement 2014
Thinning Tall Spindle Apple Based on Estimations Made With A Hand-thinning Gauge By T. Kon & J. Schupp
Trials were conducted in 2009 and 2010 to evaluate the use of a hand-thinning gauge [Equilifruit; Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), Montpelier, France] on three cultivars of apple (Malus ×domestica) trees trained to tall spindle. Hand-thinning treatments were applied after June drop to trees with supra-optimal crop loads. Three hand-thinning treatments were applied using the hand-thinning gauge: 1) thinning to ≈6 fruit/cm2 branch cross-sectional area (BCSA) (F value), 2) subtracting the delta value [Δ (an adjustment factor to increase or decrease the number of fruit per BCSA] from the F value (F − Δ), and 3) F − 2Δ. These treatments were
compared with a control and a traditional hand-thinning heuristic of spacing a solitary fruit every 7 to 8 inches of branch length. Use of the hand-thinning gauge generally improved fruit weight and maintained whole tree yields when compared with the control. Hand-thinning based upon traditional fruit-spacing heuristics reduced crop density and increased final fruit weight of apple, but significant reductions in yield were observed in two of four studies when compared with the control. We find the hand-thinning gauge a useful tool in adjusting final crop load of apple.(From HortScience 23:830.)
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2013 Scott Brown Memorial Scholarship RecipientsBy Sidney Kuhn, Scholarship Committee Chair
On behalf of the SHAP Scholarship Committee, I am pleased to announce this year’s recipients of the Scott Brown Memorial Scholarship. The committee chose two outstanding individuals, Nettie Baugher and Jessica Foster for the award of a $1,000 scholarship to each for the 2013-2014 academic year.
The scholarship is named in memory of Scott Brown, a fruit grower who was known for his encouragement and leadership in the fruit industry and his own community. Scott was an active member of the Research and Endowment Fund committees of SHAP and past president of the York Fruit Growers Association. Funding for the scholarship was provided by a $10,000 donation to the SHAP Endowment Fund in memory of Scott by his parents, Stan and Nona Brown, and contributions from other SHAP members totaling more than $2,200.
Nettie Baugher is in her freshman year at Pennsylvania State University Schreyer Honors College with a major in Horticulture. She is the daughter of Chris and Cindy Baugher of Aspers, PA. Through the wide variety of tasks performed on her family’s operation, Adams County Nursery, and attending farmers markets with McCleaf Orchards, Nettie has learned much about the horticulture industry. Nettie demonstrated great leadership attributes during her high school career with an outstanding academic record, involvement with the National Honor Society, three sports, band, chorus and several other extra-curricular activities, and serving as class Vice President. In addition, Nettie has been active in her community through volunteering with her church, at several children’s camps, a retirement home and her high school’s special education classroom. Upon graduation, Ms. Baugher hopes to work on a farm with a variety of crops and eventually enter the world of horticulture research, maybe even at the Penn State Fruit Research and Extension Center.
Jessica Foster is a Senior at Pennsylvania State University, majoring in Horticulture with a Business/Production Option. She is the daughter of Bruce and Terri Foster of Salem, NJ. Jessica has a solid background in the horticulture industry through jobs with two Mid-Atlantic wineries and as a research assistant and orchard/vineyard employee at the Penn State Rock Springs Orchard and Vineyard. Through her academic record and involvement in campus activities, such as Penn state Ag Advocates, the Ag Business Springboard Competition, Collegiate FFA and as coordinator of the Penn State Aquaponics Project, Jessica has been a dedicated leader during her college career. In addition, Jessica has donated much time to her community through participation in Big Brothers Big Sisters, Ruritan Club, and Community Emergency Response Team and through an international ministry. Upon graduation, Jessica hopes to contribute to the PA horticulture industry as a viticulturist, and serve the rapidly growing wine grape industry.
The letters of recommendation from advisors, teachers, professors and industry leaders for Nettie and Jessica certainly recognized the value of their contributions and involvements during their high school and college careers. We look forward to the success of these two young ladies as future leaders in the Pennsylvania fruit industry!
The Scholarship Committee encourages others interested in pursuing a career in the PA fruit industry to apply for the Scott Brown Memorial Scholarship in 2014. To receive more information about the Scott Brown Memorial Scholarship or an application, contact the State Horticultural Society of Pennsylvania, Maureen Irvin, Executive Secretary, 480 Mountain Road, Orrtanna, PA 17353; phone (717) 677-4184; or email [email protected]. An application is also posted on the SHAP website at www.shaponline.org.
Nettie Baugher Jessica Foster
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International Fruit Pest Target by Genomic ResearchThe spotted wing drosophila, a major pest that targets berries, cherries and other fruits in the United States, Canada and Europe, is itself being targeted, thanks to groundbreaking genome sequencing at the University of California, Davis, and a public-access Web portal hosted at Oregon State University. The work is expected to accelerate basic and applied research, leading to better monitoring and control strategies for the pest.
Officially published December 1 in the journal G3 (Genes, Genomics, Genetics), the open-access research has been available online for several weeks and drawing global attention. “To enable basic and applied research of this important pest, Drosophila suzukii, we sequenced the genome to obtain a high-quality reference sequence,” said molecular geneticist Joanna Chiu of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. Chiu and Professor David Begun of the UC Davis Department of Evolution and Ecology led the genomics team of collaborative researchers from four institutions.
The posting of the genome and comparative sequence analysis on the publicly accessible SpottedWingFlyBase Web portal could lead to more species-specific weapons to combat the destructive pest, Chiu said. Scientists are looking at its biology, behavior, food and odor preferences, and pesticide resistance. “Many researchers are working hard to study the biology of this insect through basic and applied projects, and we hope our efforts in presenting our genomic data in a user-friendly Web portal will democratize the sequence data and help facilitate everyone’s research, especially those who do not have expertise in genome and sequence analysis,” she said.
The spotted wing drosophila, a native of Asia that was first detected in the United States in 2008, is wreaking economic havoc on crops such as blueberries, cherries, blackberries and raspberries. This fly lays its eggs inside the ripe or ripening fruit, and the developing larvae feed on the soft fruit, crippling crop yields. The spotted wing drosophila is a vinegar fly about 1/16 to 1/8 inch long with red eyes, pale brown thorax, and a black-striped abdomen. The males have a distinguishing black spot toward the tip of each wing. Females have no spots but have a prominent, saw-like ovipositor for drilling fruit to lay their eggs.
Chiu teamed with scientists at UC Davis, Oregon State University, the China National Genebank and the American Museum of Natural History as part of a $5.8 million project on the biology and management of spotted wing drosophila, funded by a U.S. Department of Agriculture Specialty Crops Research Initiative grant to OSU entomologist Vaughn Walton and a team of investigators, including Professor Frank Zalom of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, who is the lead UC Davis investigator. Zalom, recently inducted as president of the nearly 7,000-member Entomological
Society of America, said that the G3 article “presents a high-quality reference sequence of Drosophila suzukii, examination of the basic properties of its genome and transcriptome, and description of patterns of genome evolution in relation to its close relatives.”
The SpottedWingFlybase Web portal has drawn more than 3,000 page views from 20 countries, including the United States, France, Italy, Belgium, China, Spain, Japan, Germany and Great Britain. “Given this impressive response and the worldwide importance of Drosophila suzukii, I expect that the G3 article will become very highly cited and cast Joanna Chiu as a central figure in future Drosophila suzukii genomic studies related to topics such as insecticide detoxification, odorant reception and regulatory entomology,” Zalom said.
OSU entomologist Vaughn Walton, lead investigator of the USDA grant, said, “Scientists from all over the world are interested in knowledge locked inside the fly’s genetic material.” He also pointed out that the genome work may relieve the fears of countries wishing to import American fruit, but not the pest. By finding the fly’s unique genetic signature, scientists hope that DNA testing will quickly determine if ready-to-be-shipped fruit contains spotted wing drosophila larvae.
The UC Davis team included the Joanna Chiu lab and the Frank Zalom lab, both in the Department of Entomology and Nematology, and David Begun’s drosophila evolutionary genetics lab in the Department of Evolution and Ecology. They collaborated with Walton and spotted wing drosophila project leader Linda Brewer of OSU; Ernest Lee from the American Museum of Natural History; and Xuanting Jiang and Guojie Zhang of the China National Genebank, BGI-Shenzhen.
Other UC Davis scientists involved in the research included doctoral candidates Kelly Hamby of the Zalom lab, Rosanna Kwok of the Chiu lab, as well as postdoctoral researchers Li Zhao, Christopher Hamm, Julie M. Cridland and research technician Perot Saelao of the Begun lab. The SpottedWingFlyBase is a dedicated online resource for Drosophila suzukii genomics but also includes comparative genomic analysis of Drosophila suzukii with other closely related Drosophila species.
The article is available at the G3 website at: http://www.g3journal.org/content/early/2013/10/14/g3.113.008185.abstract.
More information is provided by Oregon State University at the SpottedWingFlyBase portal at http://spottedwingflybase.oregonstate.edu/ or the Spotted Wing Drosophila website at http://spottedwing.org/.
(From Growing)
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Maintenance of High Epidermal Cell Density and Reduced Calyx-end Cracking in Developing ‘Pink Lady’ Apples Treated With a Combination of Cytokinin 6-benzyladenine and Gibberellins A4+A7By I. Ginzberg, E. Fogelman, L. Rosenthal & R. Stern
Calyx-end cracking in ‘Pink Lady’ apple develops as concentric cracks located around the stylar-end. The factors that induce the cracking are unknown, however we previously demonstrated that the intensity of the disorder can be controlled by application of a mixture of synthetic gibberellins (GA4 plus GA7) and cytokinin (6-benzyladenine; BA) at different phenological stages of fruit development, and suggested that the plant growth regulators (PGRs) affect the elasticity of the epidermal layer at the calyx-end by increasing cell density. The present study focused on histological analyses of the peel at the calyx-end following the application of BA + GA4+7. The experiments were conducted in Northern Israel during 2011 and 2012. In 2011 the PGRs were applied as 0.2% (v/v) Superlon™ (i.e., 40 mg l−1 BA plus 40 mg l−1 GA4+7) once, twice or three times every 14 days since 60 days after full bloom (DAFB). In 2012, to test the efficacy of a lower concentration of the PGRs, 0.025% (v/v) Superlon™ was used. Spraying was applied at 60 to 90 DAFB (cell expansion phase) as before, in addition to
earlier spraying at 7 to 35 DAFB (cell division phase). In all treatments given at cell expansion phase the BA + GA4+7 mixture increased the epidermal cell density at the calyx-end, compared to control. Multiple spraying maintained the high cell density during fruit expansion compared to one-time application, and the higher concentration of the PGRs was more potent than the lower. Assessment of calyx-end cracking suggested that low concentration of the PGRs (i.e., 5 mg l−1 BA plus 5 mg l−1 GA4+7) is most efficient when applied three times at cell division phase.
Interestingly, in 2011 the incidence of calyx-end cracking was significantly lower relative to 2012 and 2010 that were characterized by extended daily hours of high temperatures (>34 °C). This association can be used by growers as a criterion in applying the PGR treatment early in the season when temperatures are higher than the average and high incidence of calyx-end cracking might be expected.
Chinese Expected to Remove Ban on Certain U.S. ApplesChinese expected to remove ban on certain U.S. apples - Federal and state officials report that progress during recent trade negotiations with China could mean U.S. apple growers will again be able to export red and golden delicious varieties to the country in early 2014. China closed its borders to those varieties from the U.S. in August 2012 because of concerns about postharvest decay and disease issues. Growers in the U.S. saw their apple exports plummet from 9,350 metric tons in 2010 to only 366 metric tons in the first nine months of 2013.
Just before Christmas, however, U.S. agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack returned from Beijing and the 24th U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade with optimistic comments. He specifically mentioned progress regarding U.S. apples and citrus fruit. “My discussions with Premier Li Keqiang and other Chinese leaders laid the
groundwork for future cooperation related to our shared interests in food security, food safety, and sustainability, as well as the expansion of export opportunities for American farmers and ranchers,” Vilsack said in a news release Dec. 23.
Washington state officials and growers are also hopeful the Chinese government will soon lift the ban on red and golden delicious apples from the U.S. A trade delegation of more than 100 people, including Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and Agriculture Department director Bud Hover, visited China in late November, said Mike Louisell, public information officer for the department. Hover told the Tri-City Herald newspaper in Kennewick, Wash., he believes the Chinese may allow U.S. apples and potatoes into their country soon after Chinese New Year, which is Jan. 31.(From The Packer)
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2013 Research Progress Reports
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State Horticultural Association of Pennsylvania — Progress Report for 2013 Assessment of Cross-Resistance to Site-Specific Fungicides in Populations of Venturia inaequalis (scab fungus) and Monilinia fructicola (brown rot fungus) in Pennsylvania Orchards Drs. Kari A. Peter and Noemi Halbrendt Penn State University, Department of Plant Pathology and Environmental Microbiology Summary Addressing the SHAP research priority of “management of fungicide resistance,” this is a continued study recording the occurrence of Venturia inaequalis and Monilinia fructicola isolates that are resistant or reduced in sensitivity to the major fungicide classes used to manage apple scab and brown rot. Other studies have independently assessed fungicide resistance of these pathogens to these classes of fungicides. We are testing five different chemical classes on V. inaequalis and Monilinia isolates simultaneously, which is allowing for an assessment of resistance to multiple fungicides. For the 2013 screen, we obtained 1,350 apple scab isolates from 36 locations across 4 states; for brown rot, we obtained isolates from 10 sites. In addition, we have started to screen the scab isolates for changes in the cyt b sequence, which confers strobulurin resistance. At this time, the fungicide screening is still in progress.
Apple scab, caused by the fungus Venturia inaequalis, is the most economically important disease of apples world-wide. Losses result from reduced yield and quality of infected fruit, and from costs associated with disease management practices that rely heavily on use of synthetic fungicides. Without proper management, the disease can cause losses exceeding 70% of the marketable fruit where humid, cool weather occurs during the spring months such as in the Mid-Atlantic. Brown rot caused by Monilinia fructicola can also cause severe losses on stone fruit especially at harvest. Current apple scab and brown rot management programs utilize three main approaches; planting of resistance cultivars, application of chemical fungicides, and cultural control methods. Although ideal as a long-term strategy, planting of resistant cultivars is not a short-term option and consumer preference has led to widespread planting of cultivars such as ‘Gala’, ‘Rome’, and ‘Fuji’, which are highly susceptible to V. inaequalis, while many peach and nectarine cultivars in commercial production are susceptible to M. fructicola.
Chemical control strategies against apple scab and brown rot rely on several classes of fungicides. This project is a continuation of evaluating whether cross-resistance to multiple (more than two unrelated) fungicide chemistries occurs in populations of V. inaequalis and Monilinia fructicola collected throughout Pennsylvania for tolerance to commonly used fungicides: sterol inhibitors (DMI; Rally®, Indar®), strobulurins (QoI; Flint®, Abound®), guanidines (Syllit®), succinate dehydrogenase inhibitors (SDHI; boscalid – Pristine®), and anilino-pyrimidines (AP; Vangard®). The objectives of this project were 1) to collect apple scab and brown rot isolates for 2013; 2) to determine if cross-resistance occurs in V. inaequalis and M. fructicola fungi; and 3) to confirm the resistance to QoI fungicides (trifloxystrobin, scab; azoxystrobin, brown rot) molecularly using PCR (polymerase chain reaction)-based methods, identifying the cty b gene mutation conferring QoI resistance.
For 2013, apple scab leaf samples were collected from various orchards in the fruit belt of Maryland and Pennsylvania to evaluate the V. ineaqualis isolates for fungicide tolerance to the chemistries described. In addition, due to an overwhelming response to an article in Fruit Times in June 2013, we also received apple scab leaf samples from growers in New Jersey,
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2
Pennsylvania (Erie), and Ohio (Table 1). As summarized in Table 1, we are evaluating samples from 36 locations with a total of 1,350 isolates. Leaves were processed by drying at room temperature, the apple scab lesion excised from the leaf, the lesion placed into a small microcentrifuge tube, and then placed in the freezer (-20°C) for at least 24 hrs to knock back contaminating yeasts and bacteria. Twenty-five to fifty scab lesions were processed for each location. After incubation in the freezer, a buffer solution was added to the microcentrifuge tube and shaken vigorously. A small aliquot of the liquid in the tube was then plated onto ¼ strength potato dextrose agar media. After 24 - 48 hours, germinating spores were removed and placed onto fresh media, thereby creating a single-spore isolate. Eight single spores were generated from each scab lesion to ensure a high success rate for obtaining a viable isolate to test. Table 1. Summary of collected apple scab samples for 2013. State No. of locations No. of isolates PA 20 817 MD 7 187 OH 8 307 NJ 1 39 Total 36 1,350
Due to the large number isolates that need to be evaluated and the necessity to provide growers with timely information, we have streamlined and optimized the screening protocol by examining fungicide formulations commonly used at one concentration instead of the active ingredient at several concentrations (Table 2). The fungicide is incorporated into the media and growth will be measured after one week, comparing to the control. The goal is determine quickly a general “yes/no” answer for resistance. The lowest labeled rate for each fungicide is being used; we will further examine the isolates that grow on the lowest concentration at higher concentrations. In addition to screening the scab isolates on fungicide-amended media for strobulurin resistance, we are concurrently screening the isolates molecularly (PCR-based method) to identify the QoI resistance G143A mutation in the cyt b gene.
For evaluating brown rot fungicide sensitivity, brown rot samples were collected by gently touching the sporulating surface of the infected fruit with a sterile swab. Approximately 25-30 swabs were used per location, with 10 locations sampled. Spores were recovered from the swab by carefully streaking onto potato dextrose media, discrete colonies removed, single spore isolates generated, and the isolates screened on the fungicides listed in Table 2.
The screening for the apple scab and brown rot isolates are still continuing at the time of this report. Table 2. Fungicides evaluated and their concentrations. Apple scab Brown rot Rally (FRAC Group 3; myclobutanil) 5.0 oz/A Indar (FRAC Group 3;fenbuconazole) 6 oz/A Flint (FRAC Group 11; trifloxystrobin) 2.0 oz/A Orbit (FRAC Group 3; propiconazole) 4 oz/A Vangard (FRAC Group 9; cypridonil) 5.0 oz/A Abound (FRAC Group 11; azoxystrobin) 12 oz/A Syllit (FRAC Group U12; dodine) 1.5 pts/A Endura (FRAC Group 7; boscalid)* 2.65 oz/A Endura (FRAC Group 7; boscalid)* 3.65oz/A *For evaluations only: since boscalid by itself is not available in formulation for pome or stone fruit to test, the fungicide Endura (boscalid) will be used at the concentration boscalid is found in Pristine (Endura is not labeled for tree fruit). .
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Acknowledgements: The authors wish to thank SHAP for their financial support for this project. We especially are appreciative of the growers who sent samples, consultants who brought us samples, growers who allowed us to sample from their orchards. We are also grateful for the hard work and tireless efforts from Teresa Krawczyk, who is helping to screen the scab isolates; and Brian Lehman, who is helping with the brown rot isolates. Special thanks to Dr. Christopher Gee at Penn State Behrend (and his students) for their efforts helping to screen the scab isolates molecularly for the gene conferring strobulurin resistance.
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Sales Tip Scales For EcoApple Growers
Growers, scientists, and marketers have successfully boostedthe market for IPM-grown apples through their collaborations inthe Northeast. With IPM Partnership funds and leadership froma nonprofit called Red Tomato,( http://www.redtomato.org/ ) themultistate “Eco Apple” working group saw sales grow nearlyfive-fold over a three-year period.
What was the strategy? The group emphasized what makesEco Apples special: locally grown products, superior qualitycontrol, and the use of advanced IPM techniques based on in-depth protocols.
Aggressive promotion by Red Tomato’s dedicated staff hasbeen key, supported by the web site, (http://www.redtomato.org/ecoapple.php) IPM video, brochures, and retail displaymaterials. Distribution involves consolidating products from 13growers into coordinated customer deliveries.
Since the working group was funded in 2006, the number ofparticipating growers has doubled and sales continue to soar:
High Tunnel Tree FruitProduction: The FinalFrontier?By Gregory A. Lang
High tunnel production systems typically use horticulturalcrops that are annually or biennially herbaceous, high invalue, short in stature, and quick to produce. At best, treefruits may fit only one of these criteria–high value. Sweetcherry (Prunus avium) may command high enough values inpremium market niches to make high tunnel productionstrategies worth attempting. Furthermore, sweet cherryproduction can be a risky endeavor, even in optimal climates,due to the potentially devastating effects of preharvest rainthat cause fruit cracking. Consequently, environmentalmodification by tunnels in regions like the Great Lakesprovides a significant risk reduction. Additional potentialbenefits, such as protection from frosts, diseases, insects,wind scarring, etc., add further production value. Multi-bayhigh tunnels were constructed in 2005 at two Michigan StateUniversity experiment stations, over established and newlyplanted sweet cherry trees on dwarfing rootstocks, to studyand optimize the effects of production environment
State Horticultural Association of Pennsylvania — Progress Report for 2013
Impact of Summer Disease Management on Storage Rot of Apple Drs. Kari A. Peter1, Noemi Halbrendt1, and James Schupp2
1Penn State University, Department of Plant Pathology and Environmental Microbiology 2Penn State University, Department of Plant Science Summary The objectives of this project address the following SHAP priority: Refining Disease Control Strategies with an Emphasis on Summer Diseases. We evaluated the presence of storage rot over time based on different summer disease programs, which included a reduced risk program (sulfur only), conventional programs with and without calcium, and no summer disease control program as a comparison. In addition, we evaluated the use of 1-Methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) and postharvest decay. When using MCP-1, the different summer disease control programs performed similarly over time and were significantly better than the control. However, when MCP-1 was not used, there was no difference between the control and the treatments. Also, there was no statistical difference between the use of MCP-1 or not. Several different fungal rots were recorded.
Apple fruit rots can occur both in the orchard, as well as in storage after harvest. Several pathogens originating in the field can cause decay in storage: Botrytis cinerea (gray mold), Botryosphaeria spp. (white and black rots), Colletotrichum spp. (bitter rot), Monilinia spp. (brown rot), Alternaria spp. (Alternaria rot), Neonectria galligena (Nectria eye rot), Neofabraea mlaicorticis (bull’s eye rot), Phytopthora spp. (Phytophthora fruit rot), and Sphaeropsis pyriputrescens (Sphaeropsis rot). Controlling fungal postharvest diseases starts in the field with different fungicides used for controlling summer diseases. Once in storage, postharvest fungicides, controlled atmosphere cold storage, and the use of 1-Methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) are options used to control postharvest fungal diseases causing rots. 1-MCP, a powerful ripening inhibitor, is used for delaying the ripening process and extending shelf life of fruit. Little is known about the effect of 1-MCP on stimulation of postharvest fruit decay. For the following project, we evaluated the following objectives: 1) the impact of summer disease fungicide programs on fruit rot in long-term cold storage, and 2) the effect of using 1-MCP and fruit rot development.
We evaluated four summer diseases programs: 1) control (no summer disease control), 2) reduced risk (alternating sulfur with ziram), 3) conventional plus calcium (alternating Pristine and Captan), and 4) conventional without calcium. Treatments were in a randomized complete block design with 4 replications each and applied with a boom sprayer at reduced pressures, with higher volumes of water. A maintenance program for early season diseases and insects was sprayed throughout the season with an air blast sprayer. Twenty-five fruits from each treatment plot were exposed to 1 mg⋅L-1 SmartFresh (AgroFresh, Inc., Spring House, Penn.) in an enclosed chamber with a circulation fan for 24 hours before placing into storage at 39 °F. For comparison, another set of twenty-five fruits was sampled and stored at 39 °F without 1-MCP treatment. Apple fruit was evaluated for rot at 0, 30, 60, and 90 days post 1-MCP treatment. Total fruit rot was recorded and fruit rot percentage was calculated by considering the number of fruits affected
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within each replicate. Data was analyzed for treatment differences by using analysis of variance and contrast analysis.
When using MCP-1, the different summer disease control programs performed similarly over time and were significantly better than the control (Table 2). However, when MCP-1 was not used, there was no difference between the control and the treatments (Table 1). Using contrast analysis to evaluate the difference between using 1-MCP or not, there was no statistical difference. This might have been attributed to the 1-MCP being applied later than recommended. In addition, there was a large replicate variation within treatment, which could have also affected the results. Consequently, the effect of 1-MCP on postharvest decay is inconclusive based on these results. Several different fungal rots, such as blue mold and gray mold were observed as easily identified by symptoms. Additionally, other rots were observed, but difficult to identify based on symptoms. We are in the process of isolating and characterizing the infecting fungi from a few apples to properly determine the disease.
Table 1. Comparison of different summer treatment programs and the incidence of rot over time without 1-MCP used.
Treatment % Rot incidence 0 day 30 day 60 day 90 day
Control 5 a* 56 a 64 a 69 a Reduced risk 0 b 28 a 46 a 52 a Conventional +Ca 0 b 26 a 39 a 40 a Conventional -Ca 0 b 27 a 44 a 50 a *Different letters after values indicate statistical difference. Table 2. Comparison of different summer treatment programs and the incidence of rot over time with 1-MCP used.
Treatment % Rot incidence 0 day 30 day 60 day 90 day
Control 4 a* 62 a 65 a 72 a Reduced risk 0 a 15 b 43 ab 52 ab Conventional +Ca 2 a 19 b 34 b 39 a Conventional -Ca 0 a 20 b 48 ab 55 ab *Different letters after values indicate statistical difference. Acknowledgements: The authors wish to thank SHAP for their financial support for this project. We are also appreciative for the assistance from James Hollabaugh for fruit evaluations; as well as Bashar Jarjour for application of the treatments.
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Understanding Biology and Behavior of Brown Marmorated Stink Bug as a Basis for Development of
Management Programs in Fruit Orchards
Greg Krawczyk, Travis R. Enyeart, and Brian Lehman
Penn State University, Department of Entomology, Fruit Research and Extension Center
Biglerville, PA 17307 Introduction: Since its introduction into North America in the mid 1990’s, the brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) Halyomorpha halys (Stäl) (Heteroptera- Pentatomidae) developed into one of the most important pests of fruit, vegetables and some agronomic crops. While during late fall and winter BMSB is mostly a nuisance pest for homeowners, during the growing season BMSB adults and nymphs are capable of causing serious injuries to fruit and vegetables. The insecticidal control of this pest is possible and generally effective, however this method requires a series of multiple, frequent applications of broad spectrum insecticides such as pyrethroids, neonicotinoids or carbamates. Over last few years, this increased use of insecticides become responsible for the reoccurrence of many secondary pests, previously only rarely observed in orchard utilizing integrated pest management (IPM) strategies. During last three seasons, secondary pests such as wooly apple aphid Eriosoma lanigerum, San Jose scale Quadraspidiotus permiciosus, or even European red mite Panonychus ulmi and twospotted mite Tetranychus urticae gradually returned to orchards and in many cases required special additional management activities to keep them under economic threshold levels. Another pest of stone fruit, white peach scale Pseudalacaspis pentagona, which was not reported from Pennsylvania orchards for more than twenty years, recently also become very visible and in some orchards it required insecticidal control. During the 2013 season we continued evaluations of multiple new options to monitor presence of BMSB in fruit orchards and surrounding vegetation. Various management strategies including judicious use of insecticides and cultural methods were also evaluated in commercial orchards. Materials and methods: extensive BMSB trapping projects were established in commercial apple orchards to evaluate the effectiveness of commercially available and some experimental lures and various trap designs. Majority of lures and traps for experiments described below were purchased from commercial suppliers. Experiment 1. Four commercials apple orchards with known history of BMSB presence were utilized to evaluate various combinations of BMSB traps and lures. Various lure/trap combinations were evaluated in individual orchard, and each lure/trap combination within single orchard was replicated at least three times. Tested BMSB lures included: BMSB Smart lure (Ag-Bio, Inc. Westminster, CO., www.agbio-inc.com), experimental Rescue Stink Bug Attractant (Sterling International, Inc. Spokane WA., www.rescue.com) and USDA ARS #20 BMSB lure (experimental lure). Tested trap designs included tall green trap (Dead-Inn Pyramid trap, 4 ft height, Ag-Bio, Inc.), mini pyramid (small black) trap (2 ft height) (Great Lakes IPM, Inc.
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Vestaburg, MI., www.greatlakesipm.com) and Rescue BMSB trap (Sterling International, Inc.). BMSB traps were placed on the edge of the orchard, either near the last tree in the row or in the first row of trees next to woods. All trap tops except for Rescue traps (stationary traps) were rotated at weekly intervals. All lures were exchanged every four weeks. Each trap was checked weekly, with capture data collected separately for each BMSB instar. BMSB capture data was collected from May until October. Each orchard was treated with a grower standard insecticide program during the entire length of experiment. Experiment 2. A commercial pome and stone fruit orchard located in Adams County was selected for comparison of various BMSB lures. Dead-Inn Pyramid traps (4 ft height) (Ag-Bio, Inc.) baited with various BMSB lures or lure combinations were placed in various parts of the orchard within the last row of trees next to woods. Traps in replicate 1 were placed in stone fruit block while traps in replicates 2 and 3 were located within apple blocks. The evaluated treatments included: 1) experimental AS lure (AS); 2) Experimental USDA ARS #20 (#20c); 3) experimental native stink bug lure (H); 4) H lure plus BMSB Smart lure (H+PS).); 5) ARS #20 plus BMSB Smart lure (#20+PS); 6) BMSB Smart lure alone (PS); and 7) experimental Rescue BMSB lure (Rescue). The BMSB Smart lure contains an attractant for Asian stink bug Plautia stali, and is commercially available as a standard lure for monitoring BMSB. Each treatment was replicated three times, with each trap top rotated at weekly intervals within a replicate. Traps were placed in the orchard on July 22 and BMSB adults and nymphs capture data was collected weekly until October 24 (14 weeks). The entire orchard received standard insecticide treatments throughout the observations. Experiment 3. Three orchards with pre-existing deer fences were utilized in the BMSB net exclusion trial. At each location, edge of orchard bordering with woods and edge of orchard bordering with corn fields were selected for placement of horticultural nets ( ProtekNet Insect netting (FIIN8X100-60, Dubois Agrinovation, Saint-Remi, Canada). Nets were placed at each location in June and BMSB observations continued until October. At two locations, 100 yards long x 24 ft wide net was placed on existing deer fences; one net was placed next to woods while another was placed next to a corn field. At the third site, net was divided into three 33 yard long pieces and each piece was placed about 30 yards apart. At each site, three Rescue traps were placed on outside row of trees in the orchard next to net and BMSB adults and nymphs capture data was collected at weekly intervals. The control BMSB traps were located on the same row of trees but in the area without net. Results and discussion: Three currently available BMSB trap designs were tested with commercially available BMSB lures (Tab. 1). The BMSB pressure in all four commercial orchards was average, relatively low during the early part of the season and gradually increasing as the season progressed. Due to the size of Orchards 1-3, only limited number of treatments was deployed at each site. During observations in Orchard 4 we evaluated all treatments tested at other sites plus additional treatments with USDA ARS #20 BMSB experimental lure. All tested trap/lure combinations were effective in capturing BMSB adults and nymphs (Table 1). Although numbers of collected adults and nymphs varied from site to site, the combinations of Rescue lure and tall green or small black traps appear to collect the highest average number of BMSB. Despite advertised attractiveness of Rescue lure to native stink bugs, very small differences were observed among all tested lures in the number of collected native stink bugs. Comparison of various BMSB lures and lure combinations conducted using only tall green traps placed in commercial orchard suggests very high efficiency in collecting BMSB by traps baited either with Rescue lures (Rescue) or combinations of BMSB Smart Lure (PS) plus USDA ARS
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#20 attractant (#20c) or BMSB Smart lure and H lure (Fig. 1). The BMSB Smart lure alone (PS) captured more stink bugs that either USDA ARS#20 (#20c) or H lure alone. Strong synergistic effect between PS lure and H and #20c lures appears to significantly improve the capture of BMSB adults and nymphs. During 14 weeks of observations the highest numbers of BMSB were collected between Aug 13 and Oct 07. Very low numbers of BMSB were collected during first two weeks of observations in July and late in the season in late October. Since standard insecticide applications were conducted in all orchards utilized for lure and trap comparisons, we suggest the majority of captured and/or observed BMSB adults and nymphs were attracted to orchards from outside vegetation. All evaluated traps were placed either under the last tree in the row or under a tree in the first row next to woods. Timed visual observations conducted on trees around traps or on wild trees close to trap location suggest high populations of stink bugs in surrounding ecosystems. At this moment we do not know the boundaries of the active space for each lure and lure/trap combination however it appears some lures were very potent in attracting and arresting not only BMSB adults abut also BMSB nymphs. In another experiment not reported here, we also observed very strong ability of BMSB lures to attract not only adults but also BMSB nymphs. During the BMSB net exclusion experiment we evaluated feasibility of mechanical exclusion of migrating BMSB adults and nymphs from entering commercial orchards (Table 2). Utilizing existing deer fences horticultural nets were placed over the fence with the net top end folded away from orchard. In each orchard participating in this trial nets were placed either on fences next to woods surrounding orchard or fences next to field with agronomic crops such as corn or open space without vegetation higher than fence. In each case, the presence of the netting reduced the number of BMSB observed inside orchard. The differences were particularly evident in orchards with netting bordered by corn or open space. Nets placed next to wild woods also reduced the numbers of BMSB observed inside orchards, although the differences were not that evident. One possible explanation of these observed differences may be related to propensity of BMSB to feed in the tops of the tree canopies and therefore adults were initiating migratory flights from areas above the top of the net. Such migrating BMSB mated females might be responsible for the low differences not only in adult populations but also nymphal population inside orchards. Based on our BMSB trapping experiments we recommend currently available BMSB traps and lures as an effective tool for monitoring the presence and probably as important, the absence of BMSB in commercial fruit orchards. The additions of newly identified USDA ARS #20 attractant to commercially available BMSB lure based on attractant for Plautia stali (PS lures) significantly increased the number of BMSB collected during the summer and late part of the growing season. The pyramid shaped traps are effective in capturing BMSB although additional studies are needed to develop universal trap working with different lures. Unfortunately, as of now, not all BMSB adults and nymphs attracted to trap are being recaptured and increased fruit injuries were frequently observed on tress close to traps. Acknowledgement: We would like to thank the State Horticultural Association of Pennsylvania for financial support of this research. We also would like to thank Luke Bailey, Kerry Campbell, Andy Goodyear, Tyler Lieberum, Andy Schmucker and Deonna Soergel for their assistance in collecting the results of this project during the summer. Additional thanks to AlphaScent, Inc., Ag-Bio, Inc., and Sterling International, Inc. and DuPont Crop Protection for donations and reduced prices of some of their products tested in reported field trials.
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Table 1. Capture of brown marmorated stink bug in various lure-trap combinations in commercial fruit orchards during the 2013 season. PSU FREC 2013. Lure/trap combination
Number of stink bugs per trap/week BMSB adults BMSB nymphs Native stink bugs
Orchard 1 (Adams County, PA) Ag-Bio/Small Black 0.07 b* 1.60 b 0.18 ab Rescue/Small Black 3.22 a 9.74 a 0.31 a Rescue/Rescue 0.01 b 0.21 b 0.01 b Orchard 2. (Adams County, PA) Ag-Bio/Tall Green 0.78 b 1.58 a 0.19 a Rescue/Tall Green 2.34 a 1.56 a 0.21 a Rescue/Rescue 0.96 ab 3.32 a 0.01 a Orchard 3. (Franklin County, PA) ARS#20/Small Black 1.68 a 5.63 a 1.47 a Rescue/Rescue 4.89 a 8.23 a 0.07 b Orchard 4. (Adams County, PA) Ag-Bio/Small Black 0.29 c 0.33 c 0.71 a Ag-Bio/Tall Green 1.00 bc 0.57 bc 0.22 bcd Rescue/Rescue 1.62 bc 0.27 c 0.03 d Rescue/Small Black 4.87 b 3.47 a 0.43 ab Rescue/Tall Green 10.46 a 3.26 a 0.32 abc ARS #20/Small Black 3.40 b 0.84 bc 0.14 cd ARS #20/Tall Green 2.73 b 1.11 ab 0.05 d * - Means followed by the same within individual orchard and each column are not different (One Way AOV, LSD Pairwise Comparison, P≤0.05. Data for analyzes transformed by sqrt transformation)
Table 2. BMSB capture in monitoring traps placed at the edge of orchards in BMSB net exclusion experiment. Average weekly capture of BMSB adults and nymphs per trap/week. PSU FREC 2013. Location/border Treatment Weekly average number of BMSB per trap
BMSB adults BMSB nymphs Orchard 1. (Lancaster County, PA) Woods Netting 15.10 a 44.37 a
No netting 19.00 a 35.36 a Corn field Netting 0.04 a 0.00 b
No netting 5.75 b 6.40 b Orchard 2. (Adams County, PA) Woods Netting 12.86 ab 0.85 b
No netting 20.52 a 2.21 a Corn field Netting 2.62 b 0.23 b
No netting 6.89 b 0.36 b * - Means followed by the same within each orchard and each column are not different. (One Way AOV, LSD Pairwise Comparison, P≤0.05, Data for analyzes transformed by sqrt transformation)
Table 2. BMSB capture in monitoring traps placed at the edge of orchards in BMSB net exclusion experiment. Average weekly capture of BMSB adults and nymphs per trap/week. PSU FREC 2013. Location/border Treatment Weekly average number of BMSB per trap
BMSB adults BMSB nymphs Orchard 1. (Lancaster County, PA) Woods Netting 15.10 a 44.37 a
No netting 19.00 a 35.36 a Corn field Netting 0.04 a 0.00 b
No netting 5.75 b 6.40 b Orchard 2. (Adams County, PA) Woods Netting 12.86 ab 0.85 b
No netting 20.52 a 2.21 a Corn field Netting 2.62 b 0.23 b
No netting 6.89 b 0.36 b * - Means followed by the same within each orchard and each column are not different. (One Way AOV, LSD Pairwise Comparison, P≤0.05, Data for analyzes transformed by sqrt transformation)
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Figure 1. Average number of BMSB adults and nymphs captured in traps (Dead-Inn tall green traps) baited with various BMSB attractants. Bars represent average weekly trap capture per trap from July 29 to October 24, 2013. Each bar represents average BMSB capture from three traps per treatment. Traps were placed in commercial orchard in Adams County, PA. PSU FREC 2013.
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Figure 2. Average weekly capture of BMSB adults and nymphs in traps (Dead-Inn tall green traps) baited with BMSB various attractants. Each bar represents average number of captured BMSB adults and nymphs from three traps per treatment. Traps were placed in commercial orchard in Adams County, PA. PSU FREC 2013.
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Implementation and Validation of a Network of Electronic Traps for Automated Monitoring of Insect Pest Populations in Apple Orchards
Brian L. Lehman1, Greg Krawczyk1, Johnny Park2, Larry A. Hull1, Henry Medeiros2, Anderson
Nascimento2, and Shawn Johnson2
1Penn State University, Department of Entomology, Fruit Research & Extension Center, Biglerville, PA 17307
2Spensa Technologies, West Lafayette, IN 47906
Introduction Precise pest monitoring can provide valuable information about the density of specific
pest populations and contribute to the decision-making process as to whether specific management tactics should be applied. The use of pheromone-baited insect traps for monitoring pest populations is critical towards collecting the necessary insect population data needed to implement effective Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programs. However, all the time-consuming work involved in the physical inspection and maintenance of these traps also makes pest population monitoring one of the most laborious and neglected tasks in IPM. Automation of insect trapping and monitoring has the potential to reduce labor costs by reducing the time required for checking insect traps and maintenance.
Methods and Design During the 2013 season, tests were conducted on an automated pest detection system
using bio-impedance-based electronic sex pheromone prototype traps (Z-Trap) to monitor adult codling moth (CM), Cydia pomonella (L.) and oriental fruit moth (OFM), Grapholita molesta (Busck), two major insect pests that threaten the successful production and sale of apples in Pennsylvania and throughout the mid-Atlantic region. The evaluations were aimed at determining the accuracy and reliability of the traps, as well as the reliability of the wireless communication system and the functionality of a web-based user interface program.
The Z-Trap system was tested in 2013 to validate its performance and accuracy in capturing moths and to compare the results with moth captures using standard large plastic delta traps. A single Z-Trap system consisted of traps, a wireless communication device to communicate moth captures to a base station, and a web based user interface where information from each trap location and date can be stored and analyzed. Each trap was equipped with a microcontroller, a wireless communication module, and a 3.2v rechargeable battery pack to power the trap. Electrically charged adjacent steel rods surrounded a sex pheromone lure and created an electrical signal when a moth contacted adjacent rods. An algorithm was then applied to the signal to determine whether it was caused by a target insect species (i.e., CM/OFM) and/or rule out non-target insect captures and electrical noise that could have been counted as a moth detection. Moths that contact the rods fall through a funnel into a collector where the capture could later be verified. Daily insect capture data was then sent wirelessly to a base station, which
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automatically uploads the data to a web interface specifically designed to organize and display insect trap capture data specific for each single location.
Z-Trap Field Tests
Six Z-Traps were deployed throughout an apple orchard located at the Pennsylvania State University, Fruit Research and Extension Center (FREC) in Biglerville, PA and six traps each were deployed at three different grower orchards in south-central PA to monitor OFM and CM populations. Each trap was deployed with a corresponding large plastic delta (LPD) trap (the industry standard trap) nearby as a comparison for Z-Trap moth capture performance. The traps at FREC were rotated on a regular weekly basis to eliminate possible variability of moth captures related to the trap location in the orchard. Traps were set to operate daily from 15:00 to 23:00 hours. If needed, trap units were removed from the field to charge batteries. The capture of moths by each trap was monitored through the web interface and traps were checked on a regular basis. Various trap modifications including firmware updates were installed at several different times during the trapping season. A new rod design, which consisted of more rods which were significantly longer than in the previous version, was incorporated into the Z-traps at FREC during the week of July 15 in order to increase capture efficiency.
Results LPD traps generally captured higher cumulative numbers of CM than the Z-Traps
throughout the season, typically capturing about 50% more moths (Fig. 1). However, the overall capture trends between both types of traps were reasonably consistent throughout the season. There were also a considerably higher number of moths captured in the CM LPD and OFM LPD traps on May 16 and 17 compared to the respective Z-traps. This may have been the result of a mechanical malfunction with the traps. If data for those two dates was excluded from evaluations, the cumulative capture data for both types of traps would be very similar. Cumulative Z-trap capture OFM increased at a faster rate after May 17 than capture by the LPD traps (Fig. 2). After modification of the electrically charged rods during the week of July 15, the capture rates of the Z-traps increased to a greater extent compared to the LPD traps. Surprisingly, a similar pattern was not observed for the CM Z-traps.
Detections reported by the Z-traps were considerably higher than the actual moth captures observed in the collection containers therefore implying that there were numerous false detections (false positive). Attempts were made to remedy this problem by updating firmware and making modifications to the algorithms several times throughout the season. It was later realized that these observed false positive detections were caused by changes in temperature and humidity, which produced excessive electrical noise and triggered false detections. The problem was not remediated until after the season ended and could not be further tested in the past season.
Wireless communication of the Z-traps to the base station was often limited by the maximum distance range of one mile in a clear line of site. Additional Z-nodes were placed between the Z-traps and the base station to aid in the transfer of communication around obstacles such as growing trees. It was later learned that battery capacity in the nodes was not sufficient in these nodes, which in turn caused intermittent communication failures and subsequently a drain of the trap batteries. Communication among units within the trap system was reliable until mid June when the tree canopy became denser and obstructed the line of communications. To solve
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this problem, antenna extension cables were added to several of the traps to raise the antenna slightly above the tree canopy. Earlier in the season battery charge lasted only about two weeks, , but steps taken to remedy communication problems among units and updated firmware increased battery life substantially, extending the operating time of some traps without a charge for up to ten weeks.
Conclusion Research and further development of the Z-trap is still an on-going process. It will
require a drastic improvement in the accuracy of actual moth detections, in particular to significantly reduce the false detection rate. Slight modifications to the algorithm may also be needed to increase moth identification accuracy. Battery life has much improved since the introduction of the traps, but the changes in the algorithm and modifications to the sampling rate are expected to further increase battery life. Wireless communication is limited by the distance from the base station and physical structures directly in the path of communication, but the battery efficiency was greatly increased by the addition of simple antenna cables to increase the height of the antenna. Additional research and testing are required to produce a more accurate, reliable pest detection system; however, data collected during the 2013 season has been very valuable in moving toward the implementation and validation of an automated trapping system for pest moths in an orchard ecosystem.
Figure 1. Cumulative moth capture of codling moth in a Z-trap compared to a standard large plastic delta trap in an orchard at the Penn State Fruit Research and Extension Center in 2013.
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Figure 2. Cumulative moth capture of oriental fruit moth in a Z-trap compared to a standard large plastic delta trap in an orchard at the Penn State Fruit Research and Extension Center in 2013.
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State Horticultural Association of Pennsylvania 2013 Research Grant
Labor Efficient Apple and Peach Systems for Profitability
James Schupp, Thomas Kon, Edwin Winzeler and Melanie Schupp, Penn State Fruit Research and Extension Center, Biglerville, PA Paul Heinemann, Jude Liu and Zhao Zhang, Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA Tara Baugher and Catherine Lara, Penn State Cooperative Extension, Gettysburg, PA
Labor for orchard operations is a top concern among Pennsylvania fruit growers. The cultural
practices and pest control methods utilized in the past require abundant labor resources to be profitable, and these no longer exist in today’s agricultural community.
Intensive fruit production offers both economic and horticultural benefits and must be adopted in order for the Pennsylvania tree fruit industry to thrive in a challenging landscape. Affordable farm labor is likely to remain in short supply and labor costs will continue to increase. Global fruit production levels may continue to exert pressure on prices for wholesale and processed fruit in the foreseeable future, especially for the lowest grades and sizes of fruit. Intensive fruit production offers today’s grower a means with which to increase fruit quality and labor efficiency simultaneously.
The efficiencies gained by switching to high intensity fruit production are threefold: 1) Higher biological efficiency means that the orchard will allocate more of its production into fruit, that fruit will be of higher quality, and that production will come sooner in the life of the planting. 2) Labor efficiency means reduced labor cost per unit of marketable fruit, and possibly the ability to produce fruit with fewer workers. 3) Biological and labor efficiencies create economic efficiency—quicker entry into new market opportunities, lower production costs per unit, less by-product, and a quicker return on investment.
The other key for success outside of these efficiencies is the human factor—grower acceptance. While the Pennsylvania industry has awakened to the need to change, we lag behind many regions in adopting intensive fruit production practices. The growing practices and technological developments investigated and demonstrated in this project will yield tangible benefits to our growers’ profitability. It is an auspicious time to gain grower acceptance for improved practices. Intensifying production practices and developing compatible technology for labor efficiency at this time of favorable market trends will have a positive impact on the ability of the tree fruit industry to remain competitive for years to come. Objectives Industry Priorities addressed in this project included the following:
1. Developing labor efficient, intensive orchard growing systems for apples and peaches, and
2. Evaluating new technologies for reducing labor inputs, while increasing productivity, profitability and sustainability. High Density Apple Systems
In 12 one-acre high density pilot plantings in commercial orchards around the state, trees have reached the top trellis wire and are being trained to form either a continuous tree wall or as cone-shaped canopies with discrete gaps in the tree tops. Labor efficiency in the two systems was compared
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using a mobile platform compared to ladders (or a pole, in the case of installing pheromone dispensers). For the orchard tasks compared (Table 1), efficiency with the mobile platform increased by 35 to 105%. Sunlight interception in the two systems, measured on four dates during the summer months, showed no significant differences between the systems. Fruit size at harvest also was similar between systems. Table 1. Labor efficiency with an autonomous prime mover (APM) compared to either a ladder (tree training and fruit thinning) or pole (pheromone dispenser placement).
The research plots also serve as “classrooms in the field,” for increasing the visibility of orchard automation results and speeding industry adoption of new practices as they develop. Two of the pilot orchards were toured by 230 International Fruit Tree Association Study Tour participants representing 7 countries, 25 states and major fruit producing counties in the Commonwealth. The growers were surveyed about their on-going needs for innovative technologies, and increased efficiency in fruit thinning and harvest were rated Number 1 and Number 2, consecutively. Peach Orchard Systems Trial
Upright and conventional growth habit peach varieties within four training systems, ranging from high to low planting density, were compared from 2007 to 2013. The systems include perpendicular V at 5 ft in-row spacing (PV5), quad V at 7 ft in-row spacing (QV7), hex V at 10 ft in-row spacing (HV10), and open center at 14 ft in-row spacing (OC14). All systems are planted at 18 ft between rows. The varieties and systems are compared on the basis of cumulative yield, fruit size, color and quality, tree size, establishment costs, production costs, and return on investment. These data are being used to make recommendations to growers as to which systems offer the best production of marketable yield. Additionally, the systems are evaluated for suitability for mechanization, and evaluated for use with mechanical labor-saving aides, such as mechanical blossom thinners and labor assist platforms. Production practices such as pruning, hand thinning, and harvest are also evaluated in the different growing systems to determine which growth habits, canopy parameters, and spacing provide optimal productivity and labor efficiency.
The open center trees have had the greatest trunk growth, followed in descending order by the HV10, QV7 and PV5 systems (Fig. 1). The closer the tree spacing, the less the trees grew. Annual yield for the HV10 and QV7 systems has been very similar and greater than that of the other systems. Similarly, cumulative yields for HV10 and QV7 have out-distanced the OC14 (Fig. 2). The QV7 and HV10 systems establish more bearing surface per acre, which explains the greater productivity of these medium
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density systems over lower- and higher-density systems. Similar margins between systems were recorded for Sweet-N-Up, although yields were slightly lower than for Loring.
Growers often observe that V systems produce more small peaches than those grown on open center trees. While all three V systems in our study produced more small sized fruit than the OC14 trees, the QV7 and HV10 also produced more 2.75 inch and 3.0 inch fruit than the OC14. All four systems received appropriate pruning to reduce excess crop potential, mechanical blossom thinning, and timely green fruit hand thinning. These cultural practices, followed by trickle irrigation during final fruit swell resulted in highly desirable fruit size distribution, regardless of training system. Our results to-date suggest that this is the result of higher productivity, and should not be considered a failing of closely planted V systems to produce a quantity of large fruit, if good management practices are used.
With the development of mechanical blossom thinning and mechanized labor platforms, the loss of labor efficiency associated with the need to use ladders in tall tree systems can be greatly reduced. Open center training to produce a pedestrian orchard has reigned as the predominant system in the eastern U.S. for over 150 years. The results of this study show unequivocally that a change in our peach orchard training systems is long overdue. QV7 is a productive and easy to train tree wall system that facilitates mechanization for labor efficiency. Reducing Harvest Labor Requirement
Harvest of apples is typically the most labor-intensive single activity in the yearly operation. Apples are harvested by hand and the methods have not changed much for decades, if not centuries. Efforts to mechanize apple harvest in the past have not been successful because of expense and the lack of
Figure 3. Trees in peach systems trial being harvested from a self-guided orchard platform.
Figures 1-2. Comparisons of cumulative trunk growth and cumulative yield in a peach systems trial established at the Penn State Fruit Research and Extension Center in Arendtsville, PA.
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support for research. However, in recent years, particularly with the USDA supporting specialty crops research, new initiatives have been put in place to address harvest efficiency. The ultimate goal is fully mechanized harvest, but practical, affordable completely automated harvest is most likely decades away for most operations. We have been investigating ways to bridge the gap between fully manual harvest and fully mechanized harvest. This approach, called “harvest assist,” incorporates a combination of machinery and human energy to more efficiently pick apples. We have been testing a vacuum-based harvesting unit, but scaling down and simplifying the unit for variable size operations is a goal of this project. A harvest assist unit that would be economical for small- to medium-sized orchards of various tree architectures would require less intensive machinery with less energy-consuming equipment and overall lower cost. Design of the low-cost harvest-assist device. The criteria for the design of a simplified harvest-assist device were: 1) economical; 2) sturdy enough to hold up in orchard conditions; 3) compatible with small mobile platforms. Several concepts were developed using computer-aided design. When the design work started, an order for the ORSI Eco-pick mobile platform had just been placed. However, the ORSI platform did not arrive at the Biglerville Fruit Research and Extension Center until July, 2013. Because of this, the design work consisted of two parts – frame design and harvest-assist device design. For the frame design, it was necessary to design a frame that had the exact dimensions of the platform. Before the design work started, basic platform specifications were obtained. The harvest- assist device design included four components: receiver, tube, manifold, and distributor. Harvest-assist device design. When apples are picked from trees, the picker will put apples in the receiver. A key design requirement for the receiver was making apples run to the tube automatically. The bottom of the receiver has a certain slope that makes the apples flow to one end, which is connected to the tube. To prevent apple bruising by the receiver, it was necessary to pad the inside using weather resistant foam.
The tube is 6 inches in diameter. Lab tests conducted previously had demonstrated that this type of tube does not cause apple bruising, and the diameter was wide enough for free apple movement.
Design requirements for the manifold were: 1) reduce apple speed and momentum; and 2) sturdy but lightweight because it needs to be mounted to other fixed components. The manifold was fabricated from aluminum sheeting.
The distributor design is shown in Figure 4. Holes were created to distribute apples more evenly.
(a) (b)
Figure 4. a) distributor design; b) fabricated distributor.
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Fabrication. The fabrication work was completed in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, The Penn State University. Two motors were used in this device and both motors were powered by a single 12 volt battery. One motor was used to spin the distributor and one was used to lift the distributor and manifold mechanism as the bin filled with apples. The unit was tested in the lab using store-bought apples to determine proper flow of the product through the system between the receivers and the bin. Field trials and future work. The apple harvest-assist unit was dissembled and transported to the Biglerville Fruit Research and Extension Center, Biglerville, PA, where field trials were conducted from Oct 21 to Oct 23, 2013. The harvest-assist device, assembled and mounted on the Orsi platform, is shown being tested in the orchard in Figure 5. In the field tests, parts that caused apple bruising were determined and the experimental results are shown in Figure 6.
Figure 5. Harvest-assist device mounted on the Orsi unit.
Figure 6. Field trial results.
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Based on these results, it is clear that the tube and manifold do not cause significant bruising. Future work will focus mainly on reducing bruising from the time apples leave the manifold and enter the distributor. Video and observations of the tests showed that apples sometimes bounce off the distributor and make contact with the underside edge of the manifold, which causes damage. The holes in the distributor were designed to help distribute apples more evenly. However, apple contact with the edge of the holes also caused damage. Apples also hit the side of the bin with too much force. One of the main goals of a redesigned manifold and distributor is to reduce the momentum of apples. Redesign of the distributor, which will provide better cushioning and less bouncing, should considerably reduce the incidence of apple damage. Acknowledgements: The authors wish to thank the State Horticultural Association of Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Peach and Nectarine Board and the Pennsylvania Dept. of Agriculture for providing funds. We also wish to thank Eric Anderson, Freeman Showers, Tim Baker, Ken Mickley, Gretchen Dubbs, Brady Griest, Nancy Kammerer, Rich Kammerer and Logan Howell for their assistance.
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In Memory OfPaul Harner
Paul S. Harner January 19, 1914 -September9, 2008 Paul S. Harner, 94, of State College,died Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2008, at The Fairways atBrookline Village in State College. Born Jan.19, 1914, in Natrona, he was a son of the lateMelvin C. and Alma J. Sechman Harner. In1941, he married Emily F. Wilbur, who diedOct. 14, 1985. On June 14, 1988, he marriedMarcella M. Albright, who survives at home.
He was a 1932 graduate of Wilkinsburg High School. He earneda Bachelors Degree in Horticulture from Penn State in 1939. Hewas the founder and operator of Harner Fruit Farm. After heretired in 1978, he operated Grandfather's Perennial Flowers atthe farm's market. Paul was a member of St. Paul LutheranChurch in Pine Grove Mills. He was also a member of the StateHorticulture Society of Pennsylvania and the Penn State AlumniAssociation. He served on the Ferguson Township School Boardand the State College Area School District's Board. Paul wasinvolved in the founding of Welch Pool and with the planningand fund raising for the Snider Agricultural Arena on the PennState campus. In addition to his wife, he is survived by four sons,Danny R. Harner and his wife, Pamela, of State College, DavidC. Harner and his wife, Gail, of Gulf Port, Fla., and Earle W.Harner and his wife, Larissa, and Thompson P. Harner and hiswife, Nancy, of State College; 13 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Visitation was Saturday, Sept. 13, 2008, at KochFuneral Home, 2401 S. Atherton St., State College. Funeralservice was Sunday, Sept. 14, 2008, at St. Paul Lutheran Church,with Rev. Gregory P. Harbaugh officiating. Burial was in PineHall Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to St. PaulLutheran Church, 227 West Pine Grove Road, P.O. Box 277,Pine Grove Mills, PA 16868.
In Memory OfC. Marshall Ritter
Crum Marshall Ritter June 7, 1923 - January3, 2009 He was educated in the elementaryand secondary schools in West Virginia,Kentucky and Alabama, graduating fromAnniston, Ala. High School in 1941. Heattended Alabama Polytechnic Institute in thefall semester and transferred to WVU in Dec.of 1941. He enlisted in the Army in May 1942and served in Africa, Sicily and Italy. He
received the Purple Heart and a Silver Star. Following hisdischarge, he taught high school for one year. In June 1946 hemarried Anna Margaret Patterson: issue Susan Isabel, C. MarshallJr. (deceased), William Laird and Elizabeth Lee. His secondmarriage was to Adelaide B. Morgan in 1989. No issue. Heattended WVU receiving a BS AGR and MS and attended TheOhio State University where he was awarded a PhD. He taughtfor 33 years at The Pennsylvania State University in Horticulture,retiring in 1983. He then formed an orchard consulting companyand later became partner with his wife, Adelaide Morgan, inMorgan Orchard. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church,having served as a Deacon and Elder and was a representative tothe General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church. He is survivedby his wife, Adelaide; three children, six grandchildren, fourgreat-grandchildren, three stepdaughters, one stepson and sevenstep-grandchildren. Memorials may be made to Monroe CountyPublic Library, 103 South Street, Union, West Virginia, 24983.
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Cropload and Fruit Nutrient Studies in Commercial Honeycrisp Orchards to Determine Best Practices for Minimizing Bitter Pit
Tara Baugher, Jim Schupp, Catherine Lara, Penn State and Chris Watkins, Cornell University in Cooperation with 8 Pennsylvania and 10 New York Producers
Summary Reduced bitter pit incidence was associated with higher peel calcium levels; lower ratios of Mg/Ca, N/Ca and (Mg+K)/Ca in fruit peel; and moderate terminal shoot length and cropload in Year 1 of a three-year study. The goal is to develop best management recommendations and predictive tools for reducing economic losses to bitter pit. Introduction Preliminary research on Honeycrisp cropload and fruit nutrient levels conducted in cooperation with five commercial growers on ten orchard blocks during the 2012 season demonstrated losses to bitter pit of 1 to 65%. Honeycrisp is a high value cultivar, acreage in the Commonwealth is increasing, and identifying best management strategies for minimizing losses to calcium disorders would have significant economic impact. Research priorities identified by the State Horticultural Association Research Committee include cropload management and intensive production systems. Most new Honeycrisp orchards are planted to intensive systems, and cropload management for bitter pit control will be a key best management practice to be investigated in this project. Dr. Chris Watkins, Cornell post-harvest physiologist, received funding to conduct research on fruit nutrient levels relative to calcium disorders in New York Honeycrisp orchards and kindly shared his research protocol with our team so that we can increase the potential industry benefits from both investigations. Research conducted by Rosenberger and Schupp et al. (2004) demonstrated that foliar calcium treatments of at least 2.7 lb per acre of total elemental calcium per season resulted in a 76% to 90% reduction in bitter pit incidence. Telias et al. (2006) reported that cropload had a more significant effect on bitter pit than calcium sprays, with bitter pit incidence being positively correlated to low yield and large fruit. Fallahi (2012) conducted a four-year study on Gala on various rootstocks trained to vertical axis and found that leaf calcium increased with decreasing rootstock vigor, the highest leaf calcium and lowest leaf potassium being on Budagovsky 9 (B.9). Preliminary results from NC-140 trials with Honeycrisp indicate a similar trend. Research results reported by other investigators on the effects of calcium and cropload have at times been contradictory, and best management programs for bitter pit are yet to be determined. The objectives of the three-year study in cooperation with Cornell University are to:
1) Assess economic losses due to bitter pit (2013 to 2014). 2) Determine optimum cropload and terminal shoot length relative to bitter pit incidence in ten
Honeycrisp orchard blocks grown in intensive production systems (2013 to 2015). 3) Determine optimum calcium levels, to suppress bitter pit, compared to potassium,
magnesium, and nitrogen levels in fruit sampled at three weeks prior to harvest (2013 to 2015).
4) Develop predictive tools for determining how long to store fruit in a given season to reduce bitter pit at the point of sale (2015).
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Field Trial Design and Fruit Tissue Preparation Procedure In the first year of the project, uniform field trials were established in ten intensively managed Honeycrisp blocks in orchards with varying histories of bitter pit incidence. Detailed records of factors that have been shown to influence bitter pit were collected, including rootstock, planting system, and soil type; thinning, pruning and irrigation programs; soil and foliar nutrient applications; and temperature and rainfall data. Twenty representative trees were tagged in each plot, and the following measurements were collected:
1. Trunk diameter at 20 cm height and number of fruit at harvest for determinations of cropload
2. Length of 5 terminal shoots following terminal bud set 3. Fruit nutrient levels at 3 weeks prior to harvest (3 subsamples; 2 fruit per tree per subsample) 4. Fruit size at harvest (3 subsamples; 2 representative fruit per tree) 5. Bitter pit incidence (3 subsamples; 5 representative fruit per tree) at harvest and following 4
months in storage (including a 7 day shelf life period at 68 degrees F) Fruit peel samples were prepared using standardized drying and grinding procedures, and analyses for nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, manganese, iron, copper, boron, and zinc were conducted by the Penn State Plant Tissue Analysis Laboratory. Selection of the fruit tissue to sample was based on the 2012 Penn State preliminary study with five growers in which bitter pit incidence was more closely correlated to nutrients in fruit peel versus fruit tissue. A research paper published by do Amarantea et al. in 2013 also demonstrated that peel samples were preferable and that the best correlations to bitter pit were when a peel slice from around the circumference was taken from the lower third of the distance between the calyx and equator. Fruit samples for assessment of percent bitter pit were stored at the Fruit Research and Extension Center in regular atmosphere storage maintained at 38 degrees F.
Figure 1. Left: Twenty representative trees were tagged in each plot for measurements of cropload, fruit size, shoot length, fruit nutrient levels, and bitter pit incidence; Right: Peel slices for nutrient analysis were taken from around the apple circumference, the lower third of the distance between the calyx and equator. Statistical Analyses The relationships of bitter pit incidence with fruit nutrient concentration, cropload, vegetative growth, fruit size, and various cultural factors were analyzed using regression analysis.
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Results Regression analyses indicated that relationships between bitter pit incidence and %N, %P, %K, %Mg, and ppm Mn, Fe, Cu, B, or Zn were insignificant at P<0.05 (Table 1). The relationships to Ca and to K and Mg were significant at P<0.05 and P<0.06, respectively. Correlations with the ratios of Mg/Ca, N/Ca, (Mg+K)/Ca, and ((N+Mg+K)/Ca)-38 (Hansen, 2012 – Accumulated Ratio) were highly significant (P<0.001; Table 1 and Figure 2). Bitter pit incidence increased with increasing shoot length and decreased with decreasing yield efficiency (P=0.5 and P<0.6, respectively; Table 1 and Figure 3). Table 1. Relationship of bitter pit to peel nutrient levels and various cultural factors.
Variable r2 P Peel nutrient levels
N (%) 0.1746 0.2295 P (%) 0.3372 0.0784 K (%) 0.3756 0.0596 Ca (%) 0.3867 0.0549 Mg (%) 0.3701 0.0620 Mn (ppm) 0.0126 0.7574 Fe (ppm) 0.0063 0.8275 Cu (ppm) 0.0011 0.9260 B (ppm) 0.1813 0.2199 Zn (ppm) 0.0151 0.7356 Ratios Mg/Ca 0.6860 0.0031 N/Ca 0.6604 0.0043 (Mg+K)/Ca 0.5889 0.0096 Accumulated Ratio* 0.6187 0.0070 Cultural factors shoot length (cm) 0.4970 0.0228 yield efficiency** 0.3806 0.0574 mean fruit weight (g) 0.2682 0.1252 yield (bushels/acre) 0.1045 0.3622
*Accumulated Ratio = ((N+Mg+K)/Ca)-38 (Hansen, 2012) **Yield efficiency= fruit weight per unit trunk cross-sectional area (g/cm2) The first year results are preliminary. Following two more years of research in collaboration with NY growers and Cornell University, we hope to have results that will lead to a set of best management practices for preventing bitter pit in Honeycrisp.
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Figure 1. Left, bitter pit incidence increased with a higher N/Ca ratio and, right, a higher (Mg+K)/Ca ratio.
Figure 2. Left, bitter pit incidence increased with greater terminal shoot length and, right, lower yield efficiency. Literature Cited do Amarantea, Cassandro Vidal Talamini, Aquidauana Miquelotoa, Sergio Tonetto de Freitasb, Cristiano André Steffensa, João Paulo Generoso. 2013. Fruit sampling methods to quantify calcium and magnesium contents to predict bitter pit development in ‘Fuji’ apple: A multivariate approach. Scientia Horticulturae 157:19. Fallahi, Esmaeil. 2012. Influence of rootstock and irrigation methods on water use, mineral nutrition, growth, fruit yield, and quality in ‘Gala’ Apple. HortTechnology 22:731-738. Rosenberger, D.A., J.R. Schupp, S.A. Hoying, L. Cheng, and C.B. Watkins. 2004. Controlling bitter pit in ‘Honeycrisp’ apples. HortTechnology 14:342-349. Telias, A., E. Hoover, Carl Rosen, D. Bedford, and D. Cook. 2006. The effect of calcium sprays and fruit thinning on bitter pit incidence and calcium content in ‘Honeycrisp’ apple. Journal of Plant Nutrition 29:1941-1957. Acknowledgements Grant Support – State Horticultural Association of Pennsylvania Research Committee Technical Support – Tom Jarvinen, Rich Marini, Tom Kon, Edwin Winzeler, Melanie Schupp Grower Cooperators—Ben and Joe Lerew, Mark Rice, Dave Slaybaugh, Chris Baugher, Dave and John Wenk, Jim Lott, Dave Benner, Bill Lory, Lee Showalter
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Biological Control of Mites in Pennsylvania and Maryland Apple Orchards David Biddinger & Neelendra Joshi Tree Fruit Research Entomologists Penn State University, Fruit Research and Extension Center, P.O. Box 330, 290 University Drive, Biglerville, PA 17307, [email protected] Bryan Butler Carroll County Extension Agent & Mid-Maryland Tree Fruit Agent University of Maryland Extension, 700 Agriculture Center, Westminster, MD. 21157 (410)-386-2760, [email protected] Introduction Natural enemies and environmental factors limit populations of insect and mite pests in natural systems. When natural enemies are killed by man’s actions in any crop such as through pesticide applications or when pests are introduced to new habitats without their natural enemies (i.e. Asian species such as the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB) or Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD)), natural control often fails and results in pest outbreaks. Biological control of pest species by predators, parasitoids, and pathogens has been a cornerstone of IPM since its inception. It has been difficult to utilize the full potential of biological control in tree fruit and other crops that receive periodic sprays of broad-spectrum pesticides and/or have high quality standards. The best pest targets for biological control in tree fruits are generally the secondary foliage-feeding pests that do not cause direct fruit injury (i.e. mites, aphids, & leafminers) and for which low level populations can be tolerated. Populations of pests that feed directly on the fruit (i.e. codling moth, oriental fruit moth, & plum curculio) generally can’t be tolerated at levels high enough to sustain populations of biological control agents because of stringent fruit quality standards. The most successful biological control programs in U.S. tree fruits have centered on the conservation of mite predators to control the European red mite and two-spotted spider mite. After 40 years of use, some of these predators developed resistance to organophosphate insecticides, but are suppressed or eliminated when broad-spectrum carbamate and pyrethroid insecticides are used. The use of pheromone mating disruption, horticultural oils and some of the more selective reduced-risk insecticides and miticides will allow a natural increase of predators capable of regulating pest mite populations to tolerable levels without the use of miticides. The potential savings to Pennsylvania apple growers is approximately $1 million per year and a reduction of almost 1 ton of miticide active ingredient into the environment. Mite control through biological control in apple has the additional advantage of stopping the development of miticide resistance and, once established, is sustainable long-term if the use of certain harmful pesticides is avoided. The routine use of carbamate and pyrethroid insecticides in stone fruits, pears, grapes, and small fruits currently prevent reliable biological mite control, even though many of the same predators found in apple can be present. Heavy infestations and fruit injury in some areas of Pennsylvania and Maryland by BMSB in 2010-12 forced many apple growers to move away from the softer, more environmentally benign reduced risk insecticides that promoted biological control of spider mites, woolly apple aphid
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and summer green aphids. The introduction of SWD is causing a similar situation in small fruit such as blueberries and brambles. Pheromone mating disruption and products such as Altacor®, Belt®, Intrepid®, Delegate®, Assail® and Calypso® that had been the core of our summer insecticide programs to control codling moth, Oriental fruit moth, and leafrollers were not effective on this new pest. They were replaced to some extent by older, more toxic, broad-spectrum insecticides such as Lannate® and Thionex® and many apple growers also began to use pyrethroids for the first time post-bloom, or with increased frequency. The relatively soft neonicotinoid insecticides like Assail and Calypso were replaced by other products in the same class such as Venom®, Scorpion®, and Actara® which were more effective on BMSB, but much more toxic to bees and parasitic wasps/flies and occasionally flared pest mites. The result was not only a big jump in the cost of a grower insecticide programs, but also a loss of biological mite control by the predatory mite Typhlodromus pyri. Flare-ups of European red mite (ERM) and increased miticide use and costs were the result. Increases in Woolly Apple Aphids and San Jose Scale have also been noted in Pennsylvania for the same reason.
Biological Mite Control in Pennsylvania Apple Orchards The two main spider mite pests of apple in the eastern U.S. are the European Red Mite and the Two-Spotted Mite. They feed on the chlorophyll and other cell contents in leaves that gather sunlight energy which is then converted to food for the plant. The lack of green chlorophyll causes a yellowing or ‘bronzing’ of the leaves which generally occurs when spider mites reach 20-30 mites per leaf (mpl). The level at which ‘bronzing’ occurs, however, depends on many factors including the time of the year, size and variety of the tree, drought stress, and crop load. As a general rule in apple, a spray threshold of only 2.5 mpl exists early season before June; it increases to 5 mpl from June through mid July; and up to 7.5 mpl through the rest of the season.. Higher levels of spider mite damage can reduce fruit quality, color and size at harvest and reduce return bloom the following season. Penn State University is internationally known its biological mite control program in apple based on the small black lady beetle, Stethorus punctum. Developed by Asquith, Colburn, Hull and Biddinger from the 1970’s through the late 1990’s at the Fruit Research and Extension Center at Biglerville, S. punctum biological control of pest mites reduced miticide use by over 50% (almost 2 million pounds) and saved apple growers about $20 million in pesticide costs during this period. Biological mite control by Stethorus, however, declined in the late 1990’s due primarily to the registration of neonicotinoid insecticides (Provado®, Calypso, Assail etc.), Rimon®, Spintor® and Delegate which were all very toxic to S. punctum, and to the development of a number of more effective miticides which prevented the higher pest mite populations and low levels of mite injury than that commonly found relying on Stethorus alone. Historically, Stethorus also used to be abundant in peach orchards before the widespread use of pyrethroids in that crop. Around 2005, another even more effective biological control program was developed around the Phytoseiid predatory mite, T. pyri. This was predator was new to Pennsylvania, but had been an effective biological control agent of European red mite (ERM) and two-spotted spider mite (TSSM) on apple in New York, New England, New Zealand and Europe. Much of the effectiveness of T. pyri has been lost in New York over the last 10-15 years due to increased use of Lannate® and pyrethroid sprays for the control of OP resistant oblique-banded leafroller. T. pyri has never been found in Michigan due to long-term use of both of these types of pesticides, despite favorable cool weather conditions. In the more humid apple growing areas of
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Washington and British Columbia, T. pyri is also gives dependable control of spider mites where OPs and softer insecticides are used. Our current population of T. pyri probably came to Pennsylvania on apple bins moved between states or on nursery stock and a survey of 40+ Pennsylvania apple orchards in 2005 found T. pyri to be present in over half. A program developed by Penn State and funded by USDA-NRCS conservation programs moved T. pyri from known “seed” orchards (including FREC orchards) to many new grower orchards and as of 2009, it was estimated that over 80% of Pennsylvania apple orchards have this predator present at some level. Where conserved by the use of selective insecticides & miticides, T. pyri has reduced the use of miticides by over 90% and some growers have not sprayed mite susceptible varieties like Red Delicious for more than 10 years.
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Maryland T. pyri Surveys 2013 We conducted a survey of three Maryland orchards (Howard, Washington, & Carroll counties) in 2013 to determine if T. pyri also exists in Maryland apple orchards where it could be conserved using the same guidelines developed in Pennsylvania. Previously, some areas of Maryland were thought to be too hot in the summer for T. pyri and that another equally effective, but less pesticide tolerant species, Amblyseius andersonii, might be the dominant predator. This is the case in northern and southern Europe, where T. pyri is dominant in apple orchards north of Italy, and A. andersonii is dominant from Italy south. Another related phytoseiid predatory mite, Amblyseius fallacis, is present in Maryland, but as a pure predator that does not feed on alternative food sources such as apple rust mites, mold spores or pollen as with the other 2 species, it does not persist on the trees year round. Because of this and because it is less pesticide tolerant than T. pyri, A. fallacis has not been a reliable mite predator in Pennsylvania. All three species are closely related and can only be distinguished from slide mounted samples with a specialized phased-contrast microscope found only at the FREC currently.
In 2013, from monthly counts of samples in the three Maryland orchards, we found high levels of T. pyri in Washington & Carroll counties and at levels that maintained biological mite control and European red mite levels peaked at less than 2.6 mites/leaf in July – well below damaging levels for that time of year. The third site in Howard county also had low levels of pest mites, but in this case biological mite control was accomplished mostly by A. fallacis, with
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T. pyri present, but at low levels. The pesticide history of this sight indicates higher levels of pyrethroid use for stink bugs, which would lower the resident populations of T. pyri, but in this case, A. fallacis was able to move up from the ground cove in time to prevent injury. Using official Pennsylvania NASS statistics on the use of miticides in the years before and after implementation of the T. pyri biological mite control system, we estimated that miticide use declined by over 1 ton active ingredient each season and that the savings to growers was approximately $1 million/year before the big BMSB invasion of 2010. This level of miticide reduction is similar to that saved during the Stethorus period, but without the typical low to moderate level of leaf injury associated with biological control by Stethorus. T. pyri overwinters on the tree as females in deep bark crevices where it is protected from most pesticides applied prior to bloom and then comes out to feed on apple pollen during bloom. It is probably most susceptible to toxic sprays at petal fall, before the eggs are laid and populations begin to build. Unfortunately, toxic sprays late in August and September (BMSB timing) can also greatly reduce the number of overwintering T. pyri females and flare pest mite populations as outlined next.
Problems With Pyrethroids – Hormolygosis Results from field trials in 2012 also demonstrated increases in overwintering ERM eggs of over 10-fold with only a single application of pyrethroids and some neonicotinoid insecticides due not only to toxicity to predatory mites, but to a process called hormolygosis where ERM and TSSM are stimulated hormonally to have more generations in a season and lay more overwintering eggs. Hormolygosis was demonstrated in the spring of 2012 in some grower orchards after fall 2011 applications of Endigo® (Actara®/Warrior® mixture) for BMSB the previous season. Extremely high numbers (25 mites/leaf) of overwintering ERM eggs hatched during pink and bloom with one grower to cause heavy injury very early in the season when apple trees are most susceptible to injury. This grower had conserved T. pyri for over 10 years with almost no miticide use, but applied one or two alternate row-middle (ARM) sprays Endigo for BMSB control without realizing it was also pyrethroid. Some T. pyri survived the sprays, but numbers were reduced and overwintering T. pyri females emerging from bark crevices at bloom and petal fall, could not reproduce quickly enough to keep up with the high numbers of ERM eggs which hatched in the spring, slightly before those of T. pyri. On the parts of the farm where only one side of Endigo was applied the previous fall, a single ARM application of the miticide Envidor (which is very safe to T. pyri – see table below) was necessary at bloom to reduce ERM populations enough to where T. pyri were able to build and establish mite control for the rest of the season. Where two ARM applications of Endigo was used elsewhere on the same farm, however, T. pyri was almost eliminated and two ARM applications of Envidor were necessary to reduce ERM populations until the predators could re-establish in the fall. Even so, ERM counts in the spring of 2013 in the blocks that had received two applications were still significantly lower than in parts of the farm that had only a single application of Endigo in the fall of 2011. This case study shows how even a single toxic spray may cause disruption of mite control for more than a single season. While saving $50-100/A in miticide use is a big advantage to growers, another unseen benefit is in miticide resistance management. In orchards without biological mite control resistance to miticides can develop in as little as 2-3 seasons as we saw with Pyramite®/Nexter® and Acramite® about 10 years ago. The one exception has been Agri-Mek® which we have not seen develop resistance despite over 15 years of use. Unfortunately, this product has only a short window after petal fall in which it can be used, and it is very toxic to predatory mites. Other
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miticides with exception of Envidor and Zeal® are also toxic to predators, and most of the other products have similar modes of action to Pyramite/Nexter and thus have resistance issues (See table from the Pennsylvania Tree Fruit Production Guide below). Miticide resistance has not been an issue in orchards under biological mite control because of their infrequent use and because the mite predators negate selection pressure for resistance by eating both miticide susceptible individuals and those that are resistant to miticides. Thus, Envidor and Zeal are the products of choice to conserve predatory mites on the infrequent occasions when pest mites flare in orchards under biological mite control. Both Apollo® and Savey® miticides are also safe to predatory mites as well, but like Agri-mek have a limited window for application early in the season which means that applications are made before you know you have a problem.
Another phytoseiid predatory mite, Amblyseius fallacis, had been present in PA apple orchards during the period of biological mite control by Stethorus, but was generally reduced to ineffective levels due to multiple applications of Lannate which was used to control OP resistant tufted apple bud moth. It was probably due to the elimination of this pesticide for leafroller control and replacement by Confirm®, that T. pyri was finally able to establish itself in Pennsylvania apple orchards. A. fallacis is very similar in appearance to T. pyri, but has a very different biology that limits it effectiveness on pest mites. A. fallacis is a pure predator that can’t exist on fruit trees when ERM or TSSM are low. It generally leaves the trees to feed on mites in the ground cover during most of the season and is often slow to move back into the apple canopy to feed on pest mites when populations build. T. pyri, however, is a long-lived generalist feeder that will subsist on pollen, rust mites, powdery mildew spores, San Jose scale crawlers etc. if pest mite populations become low and thus is always present in the canopy. This makes it a very reliable predator if conserved by using selective pesticides. A. andersonii is very similar in biology to T. pyri, but is better adapted to warmer regions and from a few sites in Pennsylvania where it was found, it appears to be tolerant to OP sprays, but less tolerant to other insecticides. T. pyri, A. andersonii and A. fallacis are all effective at levels of only 1 predator mite to 10 pest mites. A bright yellow, slow moving stigmaeid predatory mite, Zetzallia mali, is often also common in apple orchards, and although more resistant to Lannate and pyrethroid than the other predators, it is slow to reproduce and feeds only on spider mite eggs or rust mites. It is usually does not give effective biological mite control by itself, but may be a useful supplement to control by other predators.
Listed below are descriptions of the main biological mite predators found in Pennsylvania apple orchards: Typhlodromus pyri (Phytoseiidae) Discovered in Pennsylvania in 2003, this predatory mite is by far the most reliable and effective mite predator. It is very similar in appearance to Amblyseius fallacis (see below) also commonly found in apple orchards, but is an omnivore and more closely associated with its apple host. It is very active and moves very rapidly to consume up to 350 mite prey in a lifespan of about 75 days. Females may lays up to 70 eggs each and have several generations per season. Populations, therefore, can build very rapidly in response to pest mite populations. Most effective in the cooler weather of the spring and fall, T. pyri is somewhat less effective in the summer months. It overwinters on the apple tree under the bark where it is less susceptible to dormant oil applications and is very tolerant of Pennsylvania’s relatively mild winters.
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Able to regulate pest mite populations well below injury thresholds of less than 5 pest mites per leaf, it is able to subsist on harmless apple rust mite populations, pollen or fungal spores when pest mite populations are low. Well adapted to living in apple, T. pyri do not leave the tree during the season and once populations are established, sustainable mite control is virtually ensured when the predator to prey ratio is at least 1:5 and probable at 1:10. This seasonal association with its apple host, however, makes them very susceptible to toxic pesticides. Because they do not disperse quickly, they may take several growing seasons to re-establish after extinction by harmful pesticides unless artificially re-introduced. Once populations are identified or artificially established, conservation is therefore very important and applications of certain pesticides have to be avoided. Natural populations are most likely to be found in grower orchards relying primarily on organophosphate and reduced-risk insecticides and where pheromone mating disruption is being used. Establishment of T. pyri into orchards where it is absent is relatively simple and can be accomplished in 1-2 seasons once “donor” orchards with abundant T. pyri populations have been identified as a source. Transfers of T. pyri from these orchards can be successful by physically moving blossom clusters or shoots in May and June. (See Pennsylvania Fruit Monitoring Guide or PSU Fruit Research & Extension Center website for pesticide susceptibility and orchard transfer methodology).
Amblyseius fallacis (Phytoseiidae) Almost indistinguishable from T. pyri except under microscope slide mounts, this predator has a widespread in distribution in Pennsylvania apple orchards due the use of alternative plant hosts such as weeds in the ground cover or non-fruit trees along the edges of orchards. Like T. pyri, it is also very active, but is able to build populations 3 times faster during the hotter summer months. It is not as tolerant of cool weather in the spring and fall and is susceptible to winter kill in Pennsylvania. Purely a predator, A. fallacis is not able to co-exist on apple trees without pest mite populations to feed on and will often leave the tree to feed on mites in the orchard ground cover. Because its association with the apple host is not nearly as close as that of T. pyri, A. fallacis populations often do not build until mid to late summer leaving trees the trees susceptible to early season mite injury. Because it can also survive in the orchard ground cover, however, A. fallacis is not as susceptible to extinction in the orchard due to applications of toxic pesticides applied to the tree. The predator to prey ratio of T. pyri also applies to A. fallacis and distinguishing between the 2 species is not important as long as this ratio is reached.
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Zetzellia mali (Stigmaeidae) An omnivore like T. pyri that is able to exist on pollen, fungi and rust mites when spider mite populations are absent, Z. mali is very slow and feeds on the eggs of pest mites. Its diamond shape and bright yellow coloration make it easy to distinguish from other predatory mites. Because it is less active, it is able to exist on pest mite populations even lower than T. pyri. Like T. pyri, it is also more active in the cooler spring and fall months. However, with only a couple of generations each season and a consumption rate of only 2-3 eggs per day, it can not be relied upon to control mite pests alone. It is, however, a valuable supplement to control by other mite predators and is much more tolerant of most pesticides, including pyrethroids.
Stethorus punctum (Coccinellidae) Once the cornerstone of biological mite control in Pennsylvania apple orchards, this small, black ladybeetle predator has greatly declined in importance over the last 10 years. While tolerant of many organophosphate insecticides, this decline has been mainly due to the greater use of pyrethroids and the introduction of several new neonicitinoid and IGR insecticides which are also toxic. Reproducing only when populations of pest mites exceed 8-10 mites per leaf, relying on this predator alone required the tolerance by growers of some foliar injury. With the registration of newer, more effective miticides in recent years, most growers are not willing to tolerate this injury, despite the high cost of miticides. S. punctum is now much less common in orchards and generally in small localized “hot spots” of mites along the borders of orchards. The main advantage now of this predator is it ability to fly and quickly colonize these areas.
Establishing, Conserving & Augmenting Typhlodromus pyri in Apple Orchards While a number of mite predators such as Stethorus punctum, Amblyseius fallacis, and Zetzellia mali may contribute to the biological control of European red mite and two-spotted spider mites in apple, only the conservation of native populations of Typhlodromus pyri have proven to give consistent, long-term control. Once established, T. pyri can almost completely
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regulate pest mite populations without the need for miticides, if the use of certain toxic pesticides is avoided.
1. The first step for apple growers in establishing mite control with T. pyri is to determine if it exists in significant numbers in their orchards. The most likely sites are:
• Those that have not received pyrethroid or methomyl applications for several seasons.
• Older orchards with large trees where spray coverage is not complete.
• Abandoned orchards.
• Reduced-risk pesticide orchards or those relying mostly on pheromone mating disruption to control codling moth and Oriental fruit moth.
Sample several trees in each block by examining the underside, mid-veins of 25 leaves/tree for fast-moving tear-drop shaped mites with a hand lens (10-15X). They will appear to be clear or slightly reddish, but not red or bright yellow in color or have spots. (See the PSU Fruit Research & Extension Center website or attached identification sheet). The best time to sample would be early-season (late May or June) or when pest mites are beginning to build. Samples taken early in the spring and in the fall may have relatively low populations that are hard to detect. If detected, bring 25 leaf samples from several trees to the Penn State Fruit Research & Extension center in Biglerville where they will leaf-brushed in a special machine and slide mounted to distinguish if you have A. fallacis or T. pyri under a microscope.
2. If you have T. pyri, do not use pyrethroids or carbamate insecticides after bloom (exception of carbaryl for fruit thinning). T. pyri begins to emerge from overwintering sites deep in bark crevices at the beginning of bloom, so pre-bloom pesticides have little effect on them. The exception to this is Lorsban, which is toxic if applied past ½ inch green (after this time, they can also be toxic to bees). Dormant & summer oil applications (<1%) have little effect on T. pyri, but help suppress pest mite populations. Applications of pyrethroids and methomyl can cause near complete extinction of populations (although some tolerance to Lannate has been seen in some orchards), and may require 2-3 seasons to return naturally. Although toxic at insecticidal rates, the lower rates of carbaryl used for fruit thinning appear to have minimal effect on T. pyri populations and 1-2 applications can be made mid-season as a rescue treatment for Japanese beetle control if necessary. Mancozeb fungicides, however, are slightly to moderately toxic (depending on the rate) to T. pyri eggs if applied past bloom. If a ratio of at least 1 predator to every 10 pest mites is not reached, it may be necessary to suppress the pest populations with a selective miticide (sampling procedures pesticide safety information for biological control in the PSU Tree Fruit Production Guide & PSU Fruit Research & Extension Center website).
3. If T. pyri is not present in particular orchards, they can be introduced from shoots or blossom clusters cut from PSU identified ‘donor’ sites. Although easiest to cut from other sites on the same farm that have been identified by PSU to have T. pyri, in cases where none exist or have been identified, specific sites on the PSU Fruit Research & Extension Center at Biglerville are available to all Pennsylvania apple growers for cutting and transferring shoots (contact David Biddinger at [email protected]). In order to have
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the best chance of establishing T. pyri populations in a single season, transfers of shoots & leaf spurs are best made early season after petal fall (May- June), but before the hot weather of summer (July & August). Transfers after July appear to be less likely to establish populations. Also effective are transfers of flower clusters during bloom when T. pyri are concentrated in order to feed on pollen. Transfers should be made at 2 shoots or clusters to every 6th tree in high density plantings and every 3rd tree in normal plantings. Cutting with hand-pruners from a T. pyri donor orchard and placing the shoots or flower clusters in the tree canopy of a new orchard takes approximately 1.5 hours per person/acre (exclusive of travel time).
Financial help in establishing biological mite control for fruit growers using the above guidelines is available through USDA-NRCS conservation programs such as AMA, EQIP, and CSP through your local NRCS office with specifications available at our website at: http://extension.psu.edu/pests/ipm/resources/nrcs/programs/conventreefruit/biocontrolmites/view
Pesticide Susceptibility of T. pyri We continually update our ranking of pesticide toxicity to predatory mites and other beneficial insects, including bees, through field and laboratory trials for new and older pesticides to determine if they are becoming tolerant over time. Pesticide companies rarely pay for this type of information as they are more interested in efficacy data on pest mites. Funding from grants like this is necessary periodically to keep biological mite control relevant. Below are the latest pesticide ratings for impact on all predatory mites and other beneficial insects such as bees in the Penn State Tree Fruit Production Guide 2014-15 edition.
Acknowledgements: We thank the State Horticultural Association of Pennsylvania for their current and past funding that has made the establishment of this successful biological mite control program possible. Thanks to Dr. Katie Ellis, Jason Fissel, and Lolita Miller for evaluating the mite samples, Tim Baker for making the pesticide applications at the FREC, and Kathy Wholaver for compiling the data for analysis. We also acknowledge past funding from the Pennsylvania Apple Marketing Board, the USDA-NRCS Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) program and all the fruit growers who have participated in the project over the years.
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A Cooperative Survey of the Spotted Wing Drosophila and Other Invasive Fruit Flies in various Pennsylvania and Maryland Fruit Crops
David Biddinger1, Neelendra K. Joshi1, Katie Ellis1, Bryan Butler2, Leo Donovall3, and Kathy Demchak4
1 Entomology, Penn State - Fruit Research & Extension Center, Penn State University, PA; 2University of Maryland Extension, 700 Agriculture Center, Westminster, MD; 3 Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, Harrisburg, PA; 4Department of Plant Sciences, Penn State University, PA
Introduction: Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD- Drosophila suzukii) is an invasive pest species recently
found in various fruit crops in Pennsylvania and Maryland (Biddinger et al. 2011). Originating from Asia, it was first found on the U.S. mainland in California in 2008. It spread throughout most of the West Coast in only two seasons (Lee et al. 2011 a, 2011b). In 2009, it was found in Florida and quickly spread throughout most of the East Coast and west into Michigan in only another 2-3 seasons. Movement in produce is suspected to be the main means of movement, but these small flies can also move long distances when carried by the wind. Variously known as pumice, vinegar or small fruit flies, insects from the family Drosophilidae are not normally considered to be agricultural pests because they attack only overripe or damaged fruit. SWD, however, is more like the larger, pestiferous flies of the family Tephritidae which includes major pests like the apple maggot, blueberry maggot, cherry fruit flies or the Mediterranean fruit fly that use a sharp ovipositor to pierce and lay eggs into unripe and undamaged fruit. While SWD females have a relatively large ovipositor compared to other flies in its family, it can only pierce relatively soft fruit with thin skins like brambles, strawberries, cherries etc. Undamaged apple and pear are considered to be relatively immune to SWD because of the hard flesh and thicker skin. The fuzz and skin of peaches are also supposed to be barriers to SWD, but thin-skinned varieties of nectarine and plums may be at risk. Reports of damage to these crops are generally attributed to entry through split-pits. Most of the damage to the fruit by SWD is caused by larval feeding within the fruit, but the oviposition process itself causes wounds that can be infected with fungi and other diseases to quickly breakdown the fruit. Losses in cherries and small fruits in the West Coast were projected to reach 20% with a total value of over $0.5 billion annually (Bolda et al. 2010), but losses at that same infestation level in PA & MD would result in a loss of about $2 million/year in this region (Table 1). Considering the possible economic losses to fruit growers of this region (Table 1), it is quite important to develop an effective surveillance program for SWD and other invasive species. In this context, the main objective of this study was to survey for SWD in various fruit crops and to see which ones are at risk from SWD in Pennsylvania & Maryland. A secondary objective was to survey for other potentially invasive tephritid flies such as the Med Fly and the South American Fly.
Materials and Methods: Survey Farms and Crops:
Trapping and fruit injury surveys were conducted on fruit farms with diversified tree and small fruits to determine which crops are susceptible to damage from SWD by associating trap
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catches with actual fruit injury. SWD fruit injury was surveyed in 99 fruit samples taken at normal harvest and adult emergence was followed with bait traps at 16 PA and 9 MD fruit farms in 2013. The following crops were surveyed for the SWD and other invasive flies: (a) strawberry, (b) blueberry, (c) tart or sweet cherry, (d) floricane-fruiting summer black and red raspberry, (e) primocane-fruiting fall blackberry/raspberries, (f) table grapes, (g) plum (summer and late season), (h) apricot, and mulberry as an alternate host. One hundred fruits were randomly collected from different locations (trees/rows/sections) at each location as each crop approached commercial harvest and were transported to the Penn State University Fruit Research and Extension Center at Biglerville, Pennsylvania, where they were reared at room temperature for 14 days in plastic containers with screen vents and a sand layer for the larvae to pupate into. Adults and parasitoids species emerged from fruit samples were knocked out with CO2 until transferred to 70% alcohol. Samples were labeled and delivered to PDA for sorting and identification.
Monitoring Traps: Transparent plastic containers (1 L) with small holes in upper 2/3rd region were used as
traps. Each trap was baited with 60% red wine: 40% apple cider vinegar filled with 2 inches of bait and placed two weeks before harvest and removed 2 weeks after harvest. Previous trials by K. Demchak had shown this bait mixture to be much more effective than apple cider vinegar alone and approached the attractiveness of yeast baits to SWD but without the mess. ACV/RW baits had the further advantage of being able to preserve trapped fruit fly adults for an entire week, whereas, those SWD trapped in yeast baits rotted in only a couple of days. Traps were placed on lower branches of targeted host or on trellis posts near the host crop, and were checked once a week during fruiting period of the specific crop until 2 weeks after commercial harvest and the flies were stored in 70% ethanol. Fruit flies collected from traps were then identified by the Pennsylvania Dept. of Agriculture where the samples are being stored.
Results: Out of 99 fruit samples of different crops collected from PA and MD fruit farms, SWD
adults were emerged from only 29 fruit samples (Table 2). SWD adults did not emerge from strawberry fruit sample collected from both states nor from summer and late season plums collected from Pennsylvania (Table 2). SWD adults were also not found in fruit samples of sweet and tart cherries we collected from PA nor from 3 samples of rejected tart cherries brought to the FREC by Knouse Fruit Land. Those samples did, however, have non-SWD larvae and adults that must have entered damaged cherries. Tephritid cherry fruit fly larvae or adults were not found in any of the cherry samples that we examined. In Maryland, however, one sample of tart cherries collected very late season from a U-Pick operation and therefore possibly over-ripe or damaged did produce a total of 17 SWD adults.
Table grapes and summer red raspberry fruit samples collected from PA were infested with SWD, but summer red raspberry fruit samples from MD were found to be free of SWD. SWD did infest fruit samples of black raspberry, blueberry and fall raspberry collected from both states. Among all commercial crops surveyed in this study, black raspberry and fall raspberry fruit samples had the highest number of SWD adult emergence, indicating high-risk of SWD infestation (Table 2). SWD was also not found in wild mulberry fruit samples collected from one location PA and therefore does not appear to be an alternative host as the fruit drop before the mid-July increases of SWD.
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Pennsylvania Monitoring Traps - ACV-RW traps were placed in survey farms on May 24, and there were no captures of SWD adults till the week of June 14. Trap captures of SWD remained very low (below 7/trap) until mid-July. After mid-July, the weekly captures of SWD per trap increased many-fold, and were consistently higher every week till the end of season/trapping (Fig.1). During the late summer and fall in 2013, in multiple weeks/observations, the mean captures of SWD were frequently over 100 SWD per trap (Fig. 1). In Maryland, the traps were placed in farms on May 20, and followed the same pattern as Pennsylvania of beginning to increase significantly in mid-July and continued to spike until the end of September (Fig. 2). In this study, crop-wise cumulative captures of SWD were found considerably higher in traps deployed in crops such as blackberry, blueberry, fall red raspberry, fall yellow raspberry, tart cherry and grapes than other crops such as late season plums, strawberry, apricot and tomato (Fig. 3). The highest cumulative captures (from all traps of PA and MD) of SWD were recorded in the traps deployed in blackberry, followed by fall red raspberry and tart cherry crops (Fig. 3). African fig fly (AFF) adults were not found in any of the fruit samples of all fruit crops surveyed in this study in 2013 and does not appear to be a fruit pest and only shows up to help decay injured or fallen fruit like most of the other related fruit flies other than SWD. It was found in ACV-RW traps deployed in various fruit farms in PA and MD, but mean seasonal weekly capture of AFF was very low in PA (Fig. 4) and MD. The first captures of AFF in traps were in mid-July and populations build-up later in the season (Fig. 4).
Discussion and Conclusions: We have monitored SWD populations in Pennsylvania and Maryland with vinegar traps and red wine baited traps for three seasons now and populations do not build until after early to mid-July, and peak late season from mid-August/ early September. We attribute this later July start to SWD populations to higher winter mortality of females due to the colder winters of our region. This means that early season strawberries that seem to be at high risk in California (Goodhue et al. 2011) are not currently considered to be at risk for SWD for us, although our minor acreage of late season day-neutral strawberries are probably at risk. Similarly cherries, which are one of the most susceptible crops for SWD damage in the Western region (Beers et al. 2011), could be considered to be only marginally at risk as a result of our later July development of SWD populations. Rearing out samples of fruit fly larvae in cherry samples brought to the FREC as damaged by SWD in 2012 &2013, have consisted of almost entirely of other fruit fly species and only trace amounts of SWD, if present at all. Wind-whipped or over-ripe cherries in a U-Pick operation will get fly larvae anyway as pesticide residues wear off and fruit begin to rot on the tree, but we do not have strong evidence at this point that SWD is causing any damage to cherry at normal harvest timing and ripeness. Black raspberries and early blueberry varieties appear to be the first crops in our region at significant risk from SWD with later season blackberries, raspberries and blueberries are the crops we are most concerned about in PA and MD, and with which we have definitely associated commercial loss. Many other reports of losses appear to be mostly anecdotal without positively associating SWD with the fruit. This means rearing larvae out of fruit at harvest since all drosophilid larvae look the same and only the adults can be differentiated positively as SWD. Currently, we are uncertain of the pest status of SWD in wine and table grapes in our region. Samples were limited from this crop because of previous studies from the western U.S. that showed it to be a poor host. SWD presence in our grape samples and reports of SWD causing losses in Virginia grapes mean this crop needs to be further evaluated for SWD. Currently, the management options of SWD in fruit crops are limited with the use of insecticides (Bruck et al.
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2011, Timmeren and Isaacs 2013), but insecticide resistance is an important concern with this pest because of multiple generations, a broad host range, and little significant biological control. In PA/MD condition, growers can avoid this pest in some crops with early planting and harvest time such as June-strawberry. Some research suggests that some varieties of blueberry with thicker skin, may be less susceptible to SWD damage, and varieties are being evaluated at Rutgers. However in many other crops, which are grown later in the season in this region, growers could formulate management strategies using different chemistries/ insecticides.
In conclusion, new invasive fruit fly pests such as Mediterranean Fruit Fly (Ceratitis capitata) and South American Fruit Fly (Anastrepha fraterculis) thankfully not found in this survey study, and as expected, the African fig fly was not found attacking fruit in the 2013 season. Like SWD and other vinegar flies, it will persist on dropped and rotting fruit like cherries to build populations to attack later crops. SWD was not found as a pest of strawberry, nectarine, or plum in PA/MD and only a pest of late harvested cherries and damaged apricots. However, it needs further investigations in multiyear studies. Like other insects, the biological development of SWD depends on environmental temperature, and it has high potential to be a pest in the aforementioned crops upon favorable climatic conditions such as early spring with high temperature. In the current climatic scenario, it is a pest of summer raspberries and becomes worse in later crops like blueberries, blackberries and fall raspberries. Its status in grape is uncertain and the higher trap captures could be from rotting berries due to black rot. Samples were somewhat limited in this preliminary study and trapping with some other bait such as yeast may show SWD emergence to be significantly earlier than we found. A major effort in terms of time and money would be necessary to more precisely assess the status of SWD in specific crops if the fruit industry feels it necessary.
Acknowledgement: The authors thank the State Horticultural Association of Pennsylvania for their financial support and 25 fruit farms for allowing us to work in their orchards. We also thank Alan Deppen and others from PDA for identification of insect samples, as well as Lott Miller and several summer workers at the FREC for sample collection and not drinking the wine.
References: Beers, E.H., R.A. Van Steenwyk, P.W. Shearer, B. Coates, and J.A. Grant. 2011. Developing Drosophila suzukii
management programs for sweet cherry in the western US. Pest Manag. Sci. 67: 1386–1395. Biddinger D, Rajotte E, Demchak K, Surcica A, Joshi NK, Butler B. 2011.First detections of spotted wing drosophila in
Pennsylvania. 87th Annual Cumberland-Shenandoah Fruit Workers Conference. Dec 1-2, 2011. Winchester, VA, USA.
Bolda, M.P., R.E. Goodhue, and F.G. Zalom. 2010. Spotted wing drosophila: Potential economic impact of a newly established pest. Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics Library, University of California. http://giannini.ucop.edu/media/are-update/files/articles/v13n3_2.pdf
Bruck, D.J., M. Bolda, L. Tanigoshi, J. Klick, J.R. Kleiber, and J. DeFrancesco. 2011. Laboratory and field comparisons of insecticides to reduce infestation of Drosophila suzukii in berry crops. Pest Manag. Sci. DOI: 10.1002/ps.2242
Goodhue, R.E, M. Bolda, D. Farnsworth, J.C. Williams, and F.G. Zalom. 2011. Spotted wing drosophila infestation of California strawberries and raspberries: economic analysis of potential revenue losses and control costs. Pest Manag. Science. 67: 1396-1402.
Lee, J.C., D.J. Bruck, A.J. Dreves, C. Ioriatti, H. Vogtd, P. Baufelde. 2011a. In Focus: Spotted wing drosophila, Drosophila suzukii, across perspectives. Pest Manag. Sci. 67(11): 1349-1351. DOI 10.1002/ps.2271.
Lee, J.C., D.J. Bruck, H. Curry, D. Edwards, D.R. Haviland, R.A. Van Steenwyk, and B.M. Yorgey. 2011b. The susceptibility of small fruits to spotted wing drosophila, Drosophila suzukii. Pest Manag. Sci. DOI 10.1002/ps 2279.
Timmeren S.V., R Isaacs. 2013. Control of spotted wing drosophila, Drosophila suzukii, by specific insecticides and by conventional and organic crop protection programs. Crop Protection, 126-133.
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Table 1. Estimated Revenue Losses Due to SWD: 20% Yield Loss (Adapted from Bolda et al. 2010)
Crop West Coast Crop Value
West Coast Loss of 20%
Max. Yield Loss Seen
PA/MD Acreage
PA/MD Crop Value
PA/MD Loss of 20%
Potential for Loss In PA/MD
Strawberries $1.6 B $314 M 40% 1,500 A $9 M $1.8 M Low for early season
Blueberries $142 M $28 M 40% 900 A $4 M $0.8 M High
Raspberries & Blackberries
$313 M $63 M 50% 500 A $2 M $0.4 M High
Sweet & Tart Cherries
$550 M $106 M 33% 1,100 A $2.5 M $0.5 M Low
Grapes 14,500 A $41 M $8.2 M Moderate? Peach/ Nectarine
5,600 A $19 M $3.8 M Low
Apricot/Plum <100 A < $0.5 M $0.1 M Low
Pears 1,200 A $3.5 M $0.7 M Low Total $2.6 B $511 M $80 M $14.5
M $1.2 M + ? Grapes
Table 2. Number of SWD reared from fruit samples collected from various farms in PA and MD during 2013 season.
Crop Sample Dates State
No of Fruit Samples
No. of Samples w/ SWD
Total No. of SWD Adults
Strawberry 6/4 -7/2 PA 11 0 0 MD 5 0 0 Wild Mulberry 12-Jun PA 4 0 0 MD 0 Tart Cherry 6/18-7/5 PA 11 0 0 MD 7 1 later harvest 7/2 17 Sweet Cherry 6/25 - 7/16 PA 5 0 0 MD 5 0 0 Summer Red Raspberry 6/26-7/17 PA 5 1 late from 7/17 76 MD 0 Black Raspberry 7/2-7/11 PA 6 3 116 MD 4 3 22 Blackberry 7/30-8/29 PA 4 4 353 MD 5 4 1,370 Blueberry 7/16-8/5 PA 6 2 3 MD 5 1 9 Apricot 8-Jul PA 2 1 2 MD Summer Plum 12-Aug PA 3 0 0 MD 0 Fall Raspberry 8/27-9/19 PA 6 5 3,692 MD 3 3 407 Late Season Plum 18-Sep PA 1 0 0 MD 0 Table Grapes 19-Sep PA 1 1 12 MD 0
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Figure 1- Mean seasonal weekly captures of spotted wing drosophila in apple cider vinegar and red wine baited traps deployed in various crops in Pennsylvania during 2013.
Figure 2- Cumulative number of SWD adults in traps deployed in various crops during 2013 in Maryland.
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Figure 3- Crop-wise cumulative number of SWD adults captures during 2013 in Pennsylvania and Maryland.
Figure 4- Mean seasonal weekly captures of African Fig Fly in apple cider vinegar and red wine baited traps deployed in various crops during 2013 in Pennsylvania.
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State Horticultural Association of Pennsylvania 2013 Research Grant Report
Rootstock Research Update, 2014
Rob Crassweller and Don Smith, Dept. of Plant Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA Jim Schupp, Edwin Winzeler and Melanie Schupp, Penn State Fruit Research and Extension Center, Biglerville, PA Gennaro Fazio, USDA ARS, Geneva, NY Introduction
The USDA-ARS breeding program in Geneva New York seeks to introduce size controlling apple rootstocks with a range of vigor levels and resistance to several key apple diseases. The Cornell Geneva breeding program currently has a large number of promising rootstock selections in both the dwarf category. These rootstocks have been screened for disease resistance, size control and precocity. Four selections have recently been introduced, and it is likely that several more selections will be introduced in the near future. In a few years it is hoped that growers will have a whole range of rootstocks to choose from instead of the handful of Malling and Malling Merton stocks that have been relied upon in the past. Detailed information about the performance of these stocks with high and low vigor cultivars under Mid-Atlantic conditions will be important for apple growers to select an appropriate rootstock when planting new orchards. The objective of thie study was to test several dwarfing apple rootstocks with both vigorous Daybreak Fuji (DF) medium vigor Crimson Gala (CG), low vigor Honeycrisp (HC) cultivars, under Mid-Atlantic growing conditions. A planting of Aztec Fuji was also established in 2010 as part of the multi-state NC-140 rootstock trial at Rock Springs. The goal of this paper is to evaluate the survival, growth, and fruiting characteristics of these rootstocks in the early years of the planting. Materials and Methods: Geneva Apple Rootstock Planting:
In May 2007, a planting was established at the Penn State Fruit Research and Extension Center in Biglerville, Pennsylvania. The soil was Arendtsville Gravelly Loam. The trees were propagated by Adams County Nursery with rootstock liners provided by Dr. Fazio. Rootstocks are listed in Table 1.
Spacing for the dwarf trial was 4 x 12 ft. and trees were trained to a narrow tree wall supported by a four-wire trellis. The trees were planted in single tree plots and two plots per replicate with eight replications for a total of 16 trees per cultivar /rootstock combination, except for DF / CG. 2034 and HC / CG. 5087, which had only a single tree per replicate and a total of eight trees each. Also due to limited rootstock liners, there were no trees of DF on G. 11, and no trees of HC on CG. 2034 or G. 935. Experimental design was a randomized complete block.
The following data were collected each year: survival, trunk circumference (used to calculate trunk cross sectional area), root suckers (counted and removed), total yield per tree and weight of a 25 fruit subsample (used to calculate average fruit weight).
In the same year a planting was established at Horticulture Research Farm at Rock Springs with Crimson Gala on the commercially released Geneva rootstocks, G.41, G.935, G.65, G.210. Other rootstocks in the trial included CG.4210, M.9 T337, B.491 and Ottawa 3. Trees were individually staked planted at 6 x 14 ft. and trained to a slender spindle system. Data collection was similar to the planting in Biglerville. 2010 Aztec Fuji NC 140 Multi-State Rootstock Trial
In 2010 a planting was established at the Horticulture Research Farm at Rock Springs with Aztec Fuji on 31 different rootstocks. The planting consisted of four replications of 3 to 4 tree plots per replication. Trees were trained to a tall spindle. Data collection included tree survival, tree size (TCSA) tree growth, yields and number of fruit per tree. Other data collected included a visual rating of flower density as well as number of flower clusters per tree in the first two years as well as percent fruit set.
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Results and Discussion: 2007 Geneva Apple Rootstock Planting, Biglerville, PA:
Daybreak Fuji trees on G.16 all died within two years of planting. This rootstock is known to be sensitive to latent virus, and DF is not virus indexed. The HC in this planting were virus-free, and survival of HC on G.16 was 100% (Table 1). Daybreak Fuji on CG. 2034 experienced 25% mortality (Table 2), but otherwise tree survival was 94-100% for the other rootstocks in this planting.
Two rootstocks were removed due to excess vigor after five seasons of growth. Trees of both cultivars on CG. 5463, and DF trees on CG. 4213 were clearly too large to manage at 4’ x 12’ spacing. Low productivity, poor fruit color and excessive bitter pit were resulting from the heavy containment pruning of trees on these rootstocks. There was concern that these trees would adversely affect the outcomes of the study by shading neighboring treatment trees, had they remained beyond five years.
Honeycrisp trees on CG. 4213 were by far the largest trees in this planting, despite the fact that HC is a weak growing cultivar (HC/ M.26 trees were 43% smaller than DF/ M.26 trees). The next largest trees for both cultivars were on CG. 5890. Honeycrisp trees on G. 11, CG. 3041 and M. 26 were the smaller than trees on G.16, CG. 5012, CG. 5087, while trees on CG. 4214 were intermediate and similar to both these groups. Daybreak Fuji trees on G.935 and CG.5012 were both larger than M.26 in this planting. Daybreak Fuji trees on CG. rootstocks 2034, 3041, 4214 and 5087 were all smaller than those on M. 26.
Honeycrisp was somewhat more productive in the first years of this planting, and HC/ CG. 5890 had the highest cumulative yields, followed by HC/ CG. 5012. Yields were intermediate on M.26, CG. 4213, 5087, 4214, G.11 and G.16. Among HC, the smallest trees on CG. 3041 had the lowest yields. Among DF trees, CG. 4214 and CG. 5087 had lower yields, while the remaining rootstocks produced similar yields to M. 26.
Both cultivars exhibited a tendency to alternate bearing (AB), but there was more variability in HC than in DF (Table 2). In particular, HC trees on CG. 4213 and G.11, which produced large yields in 2009, the first year of bearing, and had the highest AB index. Honeycrisp/ CG. 5890 was an exception in this regard, while HC/ CG. 3041 and 5012 were also precocious trees with a higher AB tendency than M. 26. None of the new rootstocks differed from M.26 in AB when DF was the cultivar.
Thus far, CG. 3041 and G.11 have produced somewhat smaller (~20%) HC trees with yield efficiency similar to that of M.26. CG. 4214 and CG. 5012 have produced HC trees with similar size and yield efficiency to M.26, with the added benefit of fire blight resistance. Of these new rootstocks, CG. 5012 has been more productive, suggesting that this rootstock would be a superior rootstock choice to M.26 for HC. In this trial, HC/ G.16 trees were larger and less efficient than those on M.26.
Among DF trees, CG. 2034, 3041, 4214, and 5087 have produced yield efficient trees with smaller tree size than M.26. The higher mortality of CG. 2034 raises questions about its suitability for our region, while CG. 3041 may be a productive full dwarf rootstock for vigorous cultivars such as Fuji. Surprisingly, DF/ G. 935 trees were 23% larger than M.26 in this trial. CG. 5890 produced an excessively large tree and produced the most root suckers with both cultivars. Additional years of study will help us draw firmer conclusions about the suitability of these rootstocks in this region.
2007 Geneva Apple Rootstock Planting, Rock Springs
At the end of the 7th leaf the largest trees as measured by trunk cross sectional area were those on G.210 and the smallest were on G.41. Cumulative yield for the first five years was greatest on trees on G.935 although similar to trees on G.65, M.9 T337 and Ottawa 3. Only trees on G.65 had significantly better overall efficiency and average fruit weight was greatest on trees on M.9 T337. CG.4210 has produced small fruit and low yields and will not be released. Surprisingly in this planting with this cultivar G.41 has had the lowest yields.
2010 NC-140 Multi-State Rootstock Trial with Aztec Fuji
Originally this planting was supposed to be composed of replicated four tree blocks of thirty-one different rootstocks. Unfortunately due to an early fall freeze while the trees were still in the nursery many of the trees did not survive. The result is that while we have representatives from all thirty-one rootstocks not all are in sufficient numbers to be used in the statistical analysis. Of the rootstocks that are in sufficient number for statistical analysis, trees on B.9 are the smallest and trees on B.70-20-20 are the largest as measured by trunk cross sectional area. Due to a severe frost the previous season, 2013 was the first year that the trees had any crop albeit a small crop.
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The greatest crop was produced on G.202TC. The “TC” indicates that the rootstock liners were derived from tissue culture as opposed to the normal daughter plants from stool beds. Trees on this rootstock also had the best production efficiency, crop load and average number of fruit per tree. Acknowledgements: The authors wish to thank the State Horticultural Association of Pennsylvania for funding this research. Dr. Schupp wishes to thank Freeman Showers, Eric Anderson and Tom Kon for their assistance with the 2007 CG rootstock project. Dr. Crassweller wishes to thank Albert Dreibilbis, Bill Johnson and Jessica Foster for assistance this past year. Table Effect of Rootstock on Growth and Productivity of Low Vigor and High Vigor Apple Cultivars in Pennsylvania, 2007-2013 at FREC. Honeycrisp
Survival TCSA (cm2)
Yield (kg)
Yield Efficiency (kg per cm2)
Average fruit weight (g)
Root suckers
CG.3041 100% 15.8 de 58.5 d 1.138 ab 274.6 d 0.25 b CG.4213 100% 69.9 a 71.1 c 0.417 f 275.1 d 1.81 b CG.4214 100% 20.3 cd 66.6 cd 1.020 bcd 282.8 bcd 8.40 a CG.5012 100% 25.1 c 83.6 ab 1.075 bc 277.4 cd 0.50 b CG.5087 100% 23.5 c 70.4 cd 0.893 cde 272.2 d 0.13 b CG.5890 100% 33.7 b 91.8 a 0.851 de 293.98 ab 10.50 a G.11 94% 15.1 e 63.5 cd 1.255 a 272.3 d 0.67 b G.16 100% 24.4 c 68.0 cd 0.837 e 288.95 abc 3.44 b M.26 100% 19.8 de 73.2 bc 1.063 bc 300.6 a 1.19 b
Fuji
Rootstock Survival TCSA (cm2)
Yield (kg)
Yield Efficiency (kg per cm2)
Average fruit weight (g)
Root suckers
CG.2034 75% 26.7 d 59.8 ab 0.925 a 272.2 ab 6.5 a CG.3041 100% 26.0 d 69.1 a 0.821 a 265.5 ab 0.1 d CG.4214 94% 23.5 d 50.3 b 0.693 bc 252.6 c 0.1 d CG.5012 94% 41.5 b 69.8 a 0.598 cd 273.3 a 0.2 d CG.5087 94% 22.9 d 51.2 b 0.698 b 259.7 bc 0.2 d CG.5890 94% 50.8 a 67.2 a 0.468 e 269.6 ab 5.3 ab CG.5935 94% 42.5 b 70.8 a 0.582 d 272.7 a 3.1 bc M.26 100% 34.6 c 62.9 a 0.669 bcd 276.6 a 1.9 cd
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Table Annual Yield and Alternate Bearing of Honeycrisp and Daybreak Fuji Apple Trees on Several Rootstocks in Pennsylvania, 2009 – 2013 at FREC. Honeycrisp
CG.3041 6.3 d 7.0 a 10.6 c 15.4 ab 19.2 b 0.48 bc CG.4213 13.8 a 3.5 b 22.5 a 6.2 c 25.1 b 0.67 a CG.4214 7.0 d 9.2 a 13.4 c 18.1 a 20.7 b 0.40 cd CG.5012 9.8 bc 6.8 a 18.5 ab 15.7 ab 32.9 a 0.45 bc CG.5087 7.4 cd 10.5 a 10.5 c 19.3 a 22.6 b 0.43 cd CG.5890 14.0 a 9.8 a 23.0 a 19.7 a 25.3 ab 0.36 cd G.11 10.7 b 1.2 b 14.7 bc 11.6 b 25.2 b 0.60 ab G.16 8.2 cd 9.9 a 11.8 c 16.6 a 21.6 b 0.30 d M.26 7.5 d 8.0 a 13.0 c 20.2 a 24.4 b 0.29 d
*Higher index values indicate a greater tendency toward alternate bearing, while lower values
indicate more annual bearing tendency.
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Tree size, cumulative yield/tree, cumulative efficiency and crop load of Crimson Gala on eight rootstocks planted at the Horticulture Research Farm at Rock Springs at the end of 2013.
Rootstock 13 TCSA, cm2 Yield/Tree, kg Efficiency,
g/cm2 Crop Load,
#/cm2 B.491 22.2 bc 12.26 b 579 abc 5.7 b CG.4210 15.5 ab 10.36 ab 653 bc 5.7 b G.210 48.3 d 15.63 bc 331 a 2.6 a G.41 11.9 a 4.53 a 384 a 3.2 a G.65 29.0 c 23.16 cd 800 c 6.3 b G.935 45.4 d 25.02 d 554 abc 4.4 ab M.9T337 41.8 d 14.92 bc 379 a 2.9 a O.3 41.5 d 20.71 cd 519 ab 4.2 ab P-Value 0.0001 0.0001 0.0003 0.0001
Tree Size, yield per tree, efficiency and crop load of Aztec Fuji on fourteen rootstocks planted at the Horticulture Research Farm at Rock Springs in 2013.
Rootstock 13 TCSA, cm2 Yield/tree, kg Efficiency, g/cm2 Crop Load,
#/cm2 B.10 18.3 abcd 1.24 a 68 a 0.4 a B.67-5-32 29.5 def 1.62 a 54 a 0.4 a B.70-6-8 29.6 ef 1.58 a 53 a 0.4 a B.7-3-150 25.9 cdef 1.72 a 73 a 0.5 a B.9 10.6 a 1.78 a 162 ab 1.1 ab B70-20-20 34.3 f 0.39 a 10 a 0.1 a CG.5222 19.6 abcde 3.82 a 193 ab 1.2 ab G.11 13.0 ab 4.53 ab 339 bc 2.0 b G.202TC 15.7 ab 7.96 b 508 c 3.7 c G.935N 18.5 abcde 3.18 a 169 ab 1.1 ab M.26EMLA 24.4 bcdef 2.43 a 93 a 0.6 ab M.9Pajam2 17.9 abcd 2.85 a 152 ab 0.9 ab M.9T337 16.2 abc 2.02 a 123 a 0.8 ab PiAu51-11 31.8 f 0.77 a 23 a 0.1 a P-Value 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001
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Second Generation Apple Training System Trials – 2014 Rob Crassweller & Don Smith
Introduction: Training and planting systems have evolved dramatically in the last 10 years. One of the most common systems currently being utilized is an axe system whereby the trees are allowed to grow as tall narrow pyramids. These systems are frequently characterized by having permanent bottom scaffolds and less permanent upper limbs. The problem has been that an axe system typically has a single wire at 9 to 10 feet above the ground requiring an individual metal conduit or stake be inserted next to the tree to serve as initial support. The recent increase in metal costs has made this system an expensive proposition. Therefore, one of our objectives in this planting was to see if we eliminated the individual tree support stake/conduit and substituted wire would that be more efficient and less costly.
It has also been demonstrated that the less a tree is pruned the sooner it produces fruit and will produce a greater amount of fruit. In our previous work we had shown that the minimally pruned York Imperial trees out yielded even the axe system. Denser trees tend to have poorer colored fruit; however, since processing apples are not graded on color, this is not a problem.
Recently, the tall spindle system has become popular In this system trees are placed close together and there are no permanent scaffolds and all the shoots are bent below horizontal to induce weak growth and greater flower bud formation. Once a shoot reaches ½ the diameter of the main trunk it is removed. Vigorous upright growing shoots are removed in the dormant season prior to growing season. Materials & Methods: Based on previously funded SHAP research projects this study was established in 2008 at the Horticulture Research Farm at Rock Springs. The purpose was to take the best of what systems had previously been the most productive and combine to slightly modify them and to add the new Tall Spindle training system. In the fresh market cultivar planting the most productive system had been the Axe; while in the processing cultivar planting the Minimally Pruned system had been the most productive. Calculations conducted on the yield results from the low trellis system suggested that increasing trellis height might be as productive as the Axe and therefore, a Tall Trellis system was also established. The cultivars in the current study are ‘Rubinstar Jonagold’/M.9 T337 (JG) and ‘Daybreak Fuji’/B.9 (DF). The four systems chosen were an Axe (A), Tall Spindle (TS), Tall Trellis (TT) and Minimally Pruned (MP). Trees were spaced at 5’ x 14’ (622 trees/A) with six four tree replicates in a randomized complete block design. Data collected included tree size as measured by trunk cross sectional area (TCA), annual tree growth, number of fruit produced per tree, yield per acre, average fruit weight and hours of labor needed to prune and train the trees to each system. Results: At the end of the 2013 growing season there was no influence on TCA for JG based upon training system, although, the MP were numerically slightly larger. The DF trees trained to an Axe were significantly larger than those in the TT system. There
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was no difference in yearly growth by training system although trees of DF had greater growth than the JG trees. Blossom rating in 2013 was not different for training systems for JG, but the TT of DF trees had significantly better blossom rating than trees in the A system. In both cultivars the greatest number of fruit per tree was found on trees in the MP system. There was, however, some difference within cultivar by training system; for JG the TS system had the least and for the DF the TT system had the least. As expected, average fruit weight was negatively influenced by the average number of fruit per tree. There was a dramatic influence on yield per acre in 2013 for training systems for JG but less so with DF trees. Yield per acre for the JG trees in the MP system was significantly greater than yield for either the A or TS systems; while in the DF trees MP trees only had significantly better yield than the TT system. Efficiency which is the yield taking into account tree size was lowest for JG trees in the TS system but there was no difference by system for the DF trees. Crop load for JG trees had a similar trend to the efficiency values; whereas the crop load was highest in the MP system. After 5 cropping seasons, cumulative yield for the JG trees in the MP system was significantly better than any of the other systems. During the same period cumulative yield for the DF trees was significantly better for the MP system when compared to the TT system. It should be pointed out that cumulative yield in all systems was affected by a near total crop loss in 2012 due to the early season and frost events.
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Table 1. Tree size, growth, blossom rating, average number of fruit/tree, average fruit weight, production efficiency and crop load for 2013 growing season of Jonagold and Fuji apple trees trained to four different training systems at the Horticulture research farm at Rock Springs , PA
System TCA Fall '13,
cm^2 Growth
'13, cm^2 Blossom rating** # Fruit/Tree
Fruit Weight, g
Efficiency, g/cm^2
Crop Load, #/cm^2
Rubinstar Jonagold
Tall Spindle 25.3 a* 5 a 5 a 60 a 192 a 449 a 2 a
Axe 24.7 a 4 a 5 a 100 b 188 a 751 b 4 b
Tall Trellis 23.6 a 4 a 5 a 112 bc 185 a 895 b 5 b
Minimally Pruned 27.1 a 5 a 5 a 140 c 180 a 932 b 5 b
* Letters refer to Tukey-Kramer mean separation, P = 0.05 ** 0= no clusters, 3 = full crop, 5 = snow ball bloom
Table 4. Annual average yield (bushels/A) for Jonagold/M.9 T337 and Fuji/B.9 apple trees trained to four different training systems at Rock
Springs
System 2009 2010 2011 2012* 2013
Rubinstar Jonagold
Tall Spindle 81 a* 247 a 466 b 35 a 373 a
Axe 75 a 225 a 461 b 46 a 610 b
Tall Trellis 69 a 215 a 354 a 39 a 675 bc
Minimally Pruned 76 a 281 a 591 c 28 a 809 c
P-Value 0.958 0.0879 0.0001 0.5036 0.0001
Daybreak Fuji
Tall Spindle 117 a 281 a 304 a 12 a 633 ab
Axe 138 a 283 a 262 a 19 a 767 ab
Tall Trellis 117 a 196 a 412 a 9 a 495 a
Minimally Pruned 108 a 310 a 329 a 10 a 864 b
P-Value 0.8161 0.0707 0.3792 0.2032 0.0429
*Letters refer to Tukey-Kramer mean separation, P = 0.05
**The early spring and severe frosts reduced the crop
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Table 2. 2013 Labor requirement for pruning and training Jonagold and Fuji to four different systems at Rock Springs.
System
Spring Pruning/training/tying, Man
Hrs./ Acre
Summer Pruning/training,
Man Hrs./Acre Total Prune, Train, Tie, Man Hrs./Acre
Rubinstar Jonagold
Tall Spindle 13.3 a* 13.9 bc 27.2 b
Axe 10.2 a 10.6 b 20.8 b
Tall Trellis 34 b 16.6 c 50.7 c
Minimally Pruned 9.9 a 0 a 9.9 a
P-Value 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001
Daybreak Fuji
Tall Spindle 22.7 a 15.5 b 38.2 b
Axe 20.1 a 12.8 b 32.9 b
Tall Trellis 32.2 b 25.1 c 57.4 c
Minimally Pruned 16.6 a 0 a 16.6 a
P-Value 0.0004 0.0001 0.0001
*Letters refer to Tukey-Kramer mean separation, P = 0.05
Table 3. Cumulative five year yield (bu/A), efficiency (kg/cm^2) and average fruit weight (g) for Jonagold and Fuji
System 08-13 Total
Yield, Bu/Acre 08-13 Cumulative
Efficiency, kg/cm^2 08-13 Average
Fruit Weight (g)
Rubinstar Jonagold
Tall Spindle 1,182 a* 1.44 a 221 a
Axe 1,411 a 1.74 ab 225 a
Tall Trellis 1,345 a 1.78 b 218 a
Minimally Pruned 1,764 b 2.02 b 216 a
P-Value 0.0017 0.0018 0.1271
Daybreak Fuji
Tall Spindle 1,366 ab 1.19 a 179 b
Axe 1,474 ab 1.2 a 180 b
Tall Trellis 1,236 a 1.17 a 177 ab
Minimally Pruned 1,641 b 1.41 a 161 a
P-Value 0.0192 0.0853 0.0209
*Letters refer to Tukey-Kramer mean separation, P = 0.05
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Bardsley & Jimenez-Gasco, SHAP Grant Report, 2013
1
2013 PROJECT REPORT
Development of antibiotic resistance in bacterial spot of peach and nectarine: Comparing populations of epiphytic bacteria in Pennsylvania’s organic and conventional stone fruit orchards
as it relates to bacterial spot management.
Sarah J. Bardsley and Maria del Mar Jimenez-Gasco
Penn State University Department of Plant Pathology and Environmental Microbiology, University Park, PA 16802
SUMMARY
Bacterial spot of stone fruit (caused by Xanthomonas arboricola pv. pruni [Xap]) remains the most important bacterial disease of peach and nectarine in the eastern United States. This report summarizes the results of research completed in 2013 that was funded by the State Horticultural Association of Pennsylvania (SHAP). The objectives were to monitor and identify populations of bacterial epiphytes in organic and conventional stone fruit orchards, including bacterial epiphytes resistant to the antibiotic oxytetracycline as well as to continue to monitor organic orchards for the incidence of bacterial spot. Samples were taken from 6 conventional and 2 organic stone fruit orchards. Bacteria growing on media amended with 10 and 25 mg/L oxytetracycline were recovered from all orchards. The number of unique bacterial isolates recovered from each orchard was not related to orchard management; however, the frequency of each unique bacterial isolate is likely related to management. Comparisons were made between the overall bacterial populations obtained from organic and conventional orchards, based on morphological characteristics. Bacterial populations from organic and conventional orchards were completely different. As in the previous year, Gram positive bacterial colonies (i.e.: Bacillus spp.) and yeasts predominated populations recovered from the two organic orchards while the majority of bacterial colonies recovered from the conventional orchards were Gram negative (i.e.: fluorescent pseudomonads and other bacteria belonging to the Proteobacteria). A total of 281 epiphytic bacterial isolates was collected from these 8 commercial orchards for further analysis. Again, no bacterial spot was found in the two organic orchards sampled. INTRODUCTION
Peach (Prunus persica (L.) Batsch) is the second most important fruit crop in the eastern United States after apple. Stone fruit production, however, is severely limited by bacterial spot (caused by the bacterium Xanthomonas arboricola pv. pruni [Xap]). Considered the most important bacterial disease of peach and nectarine in the eastern US, bacterial spot epidemics are especially severe in the southeastern US and the mid-Atlantic regions where the weather is warm, wet, and conducive to rapid disease development. In Pennsylvania, 100% fruit loss has been observed on highly susceptible cultivars in years where weather conditions favored bacterial spot development. Such was the case in the 2013 growing season, when bacterial spot was particularly bad on apricots and plums across much of southern Pennsylvania. Furthermore, severe bacterial spot epidemics are often associated with defoliation, poor fruit quality, and a greater susceptibility to brown rot caused by the fungus Monilinia fructicola (Ritchie, 1995).
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Bardsley & Jimenez-Gasco, SHAP Grant Report, 2013
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Bacterial spot has also greatly hindered the establishment of organic stone fruit orchards in the eastern US because this disease is not easily managed on highly susceptible, consumer preferred, stone fruit cultivars. The limited bacterial spot management strategies for organic production include a handful of cultural practices such as planting in well-draining soils, pruning branches to allow increased airflow, and managing populations of ring nematodes in the soil. Although these strategies will help reduce tree stress and reduce the severity of the disease, they often fail to reduce bacterial spot symptoms to marketable levels when used alone. Therefore, organically managed orchards make use of less susceptible stone fruit cultivars and, when needed, certified organic antimicrobials and plant defense promoters such as Serenade and Regalia, respectively. The use of oxytetracycline in organic management will be phased out by the end of 2014; however, neither organic orchard sampled in this study had previously used the antibiotic.
Despite this obstacle in organic stone fruit production, in 2012, no bacterial spot was found in two organic peach orchards in Adams County. Both orchards used no chemical bactericides and relied heavily upon cultural management practices as well as cultivars known to be less susceptible to bacterial spot. Leaf samples were taken throughout both orchards and brought back to the lab for further examination and recovery of bacterial epiphytes. Bacterial epiphytes are bacteria living on the surface of the leaves that often interact with unrelated bacteria such as the causal pathogen of bacterial spot, Xap. Populations of bacterial epiphytes already resistant to oxytetracycline exist in PA stone fruit orchards and previous studies have shown that unrelated bacterial species readily transfer resistance genes so these epiphytes are important factors to study when monitoring for antibiotic resistance in Xap, an ongoing project in the Jimenez-Gasco lab. Leaf samples were also taken from 5 conventionally managed orchards for comparison. Preliminary visual comparisons made between culturable bacterial epiphytes recovered from conventional and organic orchards showed that populations were completely different. Therefore, the objective of the research proposed for the 2013 growing season was to monitor and identify populations of bacterial epiphytes in organic and conventional stone fruit orchards, including bacterial epiphytes resistant to the antibiotic oxytetracycline as well as to continue to monitor organic orchards for the incidence of bacterial spot.
Fig. 1. Percentage of epiphytic bacterial isolates recovered on media amended with 0 (green), 10 (yellow), and 25 (red) mg/L oxytetracycline from leaf samples taken from 6 conventional (orchards 1 through 6) and 2 organic (orchards 7 and 8) commercial stone fruit orchards from Adams, Delaware, Chester, and Lancaster Counties, PA. Bacteria growing in the presence of 10 and 25 mg/L oxytetracycline were found in all orchards, including both organic and conventional stone fruit orchards.
0
20
40
60
80
100
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Perc
ent o
f Iso
late
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Orchards
25mg/L10 mg/L0 mg/L
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Bardsley & Jimenez-Gasco, SHAP Grant Report, 2013
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PROCEDURES AND RESULTS In the 2013 growing season, leaf samples were taken from 6 conventional and 2 organic
stone fruit orchards in Adams, Delaware, Chester, and Lancaster Counties, PA. Three 15 gram leaf samples from each sampled block were rinsed in potassium phosphate buffer in order to wash bacterial epiphytes from the leaves. The rinsate was serially diluted and plated on King’s B media (a semi-selective medium) amended with the antibiotic oxytetracycline at three different concentrations (0, 10, and 25 mg/L). The formation of bacterial colonies on these plates was counted and recorded and in total, 281 single colonies were collected, preserved, and stored at -80° C for further characterization. Confirming previous results, bacteria growing on media amended with 10 and 25 mg/L oxytetracycline were recovered from all orchards, including both organic orchards where no oxytetracycline had been applied (Fig. 1).
Fig. 2. The number of morphologically unique bacterial isolates recovered from 6 conventional (orchards 1 through 6) and 2 organic (orchards 7 and 8) commercial stone fruit orchards from Adams, Delaware, Chester, and Lancaster Counties, PA. The number of unique bacterial isolates recovered from each orchard was not related to orchard management because the least and most diverse populations were both recovered from conventionally managed orchards.
The diversity of bacterial epiphytes was also examined. The number of unique bacterial isolates recovered from each orchard was counted and recorded. A total of 24 morphologically unique bacterial isolates was recovered from the 8 orchards. Because the least and most diverse population were both recovered from conventionally managed orchards, the number of unique isolates is likely not related to orchard management (Fig. 2). Nevertheless, the frequency of each unique bacterial isolate comprising a unique population was likely related to management type. A visual comparison made between the overall bacterial populations from the organic and conventional orchards demonstrated that they were completely different (Fig. 3). As in the previous year, Gram positive bacterial colonies (i.e.: Bacillus spp.) as well as yeast predominated those recovered from the two organic orchards while the majority of bacterial colonies recovered from the conventional orchards were Gram negative (i.e.: fluorescent pseudomonads and other bacteria belonging to the Proteobacteria). Again, no bacterial spot was found in either organic stone fruit orchard despite rigorous inspection. The results of research from the 2013 growing season confirm those of the previous year, indicating a varying trend in bacterial diversity among organic and conventional orchards. Further investigation is needed to address the identification of bacterial epiphytes as well as the molecular diversity, a stronger inference of diversity, of
02468
101214
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ates
Orchards
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Bardsley & Jimenez-Gasco, SHAP Grant Report, 2013
4
bacterial populations in orchards. In addition to that, continuing research will focus on determining the specific genetic makeup of resistance genes found in isolates recovered from these orchards as well as if they are transferable to and stable in isolates of Xap.
Fig. 3. A total of 24 morphologically unique bacterial isolates (labeled 1 through 24 in the figure legends) were recovered from 6 conventional (orchards 1 and 2 shown here) and 2 organic (orchards 7 and 8) stone fruit orchards. The frequency of each unique bacterial isolate is depicted in these pie charts. A visual comparison made between the overall bacterial populations from the organic and conventional orchards revealed that they were completely different. Gram positive bacterial colonies (i.e.: Bacillus spp.) as well as yeast (isolates 10, 18, and 20 in the figure legend) predominated those recovered from the two organic orchards while the majority of bacterial colonies recovered from the conventional orchards were Gram negative (i.e.: fluorescent pseudomonads and other bacteria belonging to the Proteobacteria) (isolates 6 and 4 in the figure legend).
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State Horticultural Association of Pennsylvania
Progress Report for 2013
Isolation and Characterization of Postharvest Fungal Plant Pathogens of Apple Fruit in Pennsylvania with Implications for Decay Management
Drs. Wayne M. Jurick IIa and Kari A. Peterb
Summary
The objectives of this project addressed the 2013 SHAP research priority under the Plant Pathology section “Management of Antibiotic and Fungicide Resistance”. The information generated from this research will impact the Pennsylvania fruit growers, packers and processors by determining which fungal pathogens are responsible for decay during storage in Pennsylvania which had previously not been determined. For the first time, the research has discovered new fungal pathogens causing postharvest decay of apples. This study has also determined the relative levels of sensitivity to three widely used postharvest fungicides, which is of direct value to the producers in dealing with emerging resistance to these chemicals. The collection of fungal isolates (maintained at ARS and Penn State FREC) obtained from this project will serve the scientific community as test strains for future scientific investigations focusing on fungicide resistance and for the development of rapid and accurate methods of pathogen detection.
Introduction
Worldwide apple production in 2010 totaled 70 million tons of fruit, valuing approximately $15 billion (Leahu et al. 2011). Approximately 65% of the apple crop in the U.S. is consumed as fresh fruit, whereas the remaining 35% is processed for juice, cider, dried, frozen, or canned products, according to the U.S. Apple Association. Fresh apples are appealing for consumption due to their high fiber content and nutritive value and are available year-round due to storage for nine months to a year in low temperature and controlled atmosphere. While in storage, apples are at risk for decay development as all commercial apple cultivars are highly susceptible to several postharvest pathogens including blue mold etc. (Spotts 1999).
Postharvest diseases caused by fungi are a significant economic problem for the pome fruit growing and packing industry on a year to year basis despite the use of modern storage facilities and fungicide applications. Postharvest losses of apples in the US were estimated at more than $4.4 million in 1992 (Rosenberger, 1997). In the Mid Atlantic apple fruit growing region, where a significant portion of US apple fruit is grown and stored, the occurrence of postharvest decay causing fungi has not been evaluated. There are currently three fungicides (Scholar®, Penbotec®, and Mertect®) labeled for the control of postharvest decay on pome fruits. Resistance to Mertect® has been previously documented in the literature and was recently reported that resistance to pyrimethanil (Penbotec®) has been detected in populations of P.
73
expansum in Washington state (Li and Xiao, 2008). Chemicals used to control postharvest decay are limited and their proper application and rotation are necessary to avoid development of resistance. Currently, the level of resistance to Penbotec®, Scholar® and Mertect® for postharvest fungal plant pathogens in Pennsylvania is unknown and the information contained in this report will benefit the PA pome fruit growers to utilize the most effective chemicals to control decay during long-term storage.
Materials and Methods
Collection of Decayed Apple Fruit
Fungi were isolated from decayed apple fruit from three commercial packinghouses located in Adams County Pennsylvania. All samples were collected from bins that were removed directly from cold storage. Common apple varieties like ‘Honeycrisp’, ‘Red Delicious’, ‘Golden Delicious’, and ‘Gala’, which are highly susceptible to decay and have histories of fungicide failures, were collected for analysis.
Fungal Isolation and Identification
All fungal isolates were obtained from decayed apple fruit using standard laboratory procedures. The isolates were cultured on Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) and maintained on PDA slants for long term storage. The identity of select isolates was accomplished by extracting genomic DNA from each isolate using the extract-N-amp kit from Sigma and amplified using gene specific primers. Amplicons from each isolate were analyzed via agarose gel electrophoresis and purified using the Qiagen PCR-clean up kit prior to DNA sequence analysis. Identity of the isolates was obtained using BLAST (Basic Local Alignment Search Tool) analysis of the amplicon consensus nucleotide sequence.
Determination of MIC (Minimum Inhibitory Concentration) for Postharvest Fungicides
Sensitivity to fungicides for control of postharvest decay, including Scholar® (fludioxonil), Mertect® (thiabendazole), and Penbotec® (pyrimethanil), were carried out by determining Minimum Inhibitory Concentrations (MIC) as previously described by Pianzzola et al., (2004). Briefly, spore suspensions of the fungal isolates were prepared by adding 5 ml of Tween-treated water (50 μl of Tween-20 to 50 ml of sterile distilled water) to a sporulating fungal culture. The spore suspension was collected into sterile 15 ml conical tubes and adjusted to ~1 x 105 conidia per ml. Two hundred µl of PDA was applied to each well in a 96-well plate containing a range of concentrations of each fungicide. Control wells containing PDA only were included to assess fungal growth. Twenty µl of conidial suspension were added to each well. Plates were incubated at 20°C and assessed for fungal growth after 48 hours.
Results and Discussion
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Objective 1 - Obtain fungal isolates causing postharvest decay from 3 different commercial packinghouses located in Pennsylvania that use different pre and postharvest fungicide control programs.
During the course of the study, 399 isolates were obtained from 3 different packinghouses that use different pre harvest and postharvest decay management practices including organic in PA (Table 1). All isolates were cultured and maintained on PDA, and select isolates were kept as permanent stocks as PDA slants at 4°C. We observed an array of decay-causing fungi like Penicillium spp., Botrytis spp., Alternaria spp., Mucor spp., Colletotrichum spp., and Botryosphaeria spp (Figure 1). Observations from this study confirm last year’s observations from Pennsylvania and are also consistent with what has been reported in the literature for the West Coast pome fruit growing region in that the most prevalent decay causing organism was Penicillium spp. This information directly impacts the PA pome fruit growers, packers, and processors as it provides them with specific information concerning the decay-causing fungi in storage which will allow for the selection of the most appropriate chemical controls. This information will also be helpful to extension personnel and other scientists to aid in recommending both cultural and emerging control methods to combat these pathogens.
Objective 2 - Identify fungi causing postharvest decay using cultural methods, diagnostic media and or the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR).
Most of the isolates were confidently identified using standard morphological and mycological methods. Ones that could not be identified using standard methods were confirmed using conventional PCR. During the investigation, a new fungal pathogen was identified that had not been previously reported to cause postharvest decay of apple fruit in PA, Botryosphaeria dothidea (Figure 2). Knowledge of new postharvest decay-causing fungi is important for the PA pome fruit growers and packers so that they can implement the most effective chemical controls to abate decay during storage.
Objective 3 - Characterize new fungal isolates causing postharvest decay of apple fruit using morphological, mycological, and or molecular methods.
Several isolates obtained from infected fruit having large dark brown lesions with irregular margins and soft decay that expanded unevenly towards the core were identified as Botryosphaeria dothidea. The B. dothidea isolates produced a dark black-colored aerial mycelium with a white margin in culture (Figure 3). Genomic DNA was isolated and amplified with gene specific primers (ITS 4 and 5) for the ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer region ITSI-5.8S-ITS2 and confirmed the morphological identification as B. dothidea. The MIC for the B. dothidea isolates for Mertect®, Penbotec®, and Scholar® are well below the labeled rates for these postharvest fungicides.
Objective 4 - Determine the Minimum Inhibitory Concentrations (MIC) for three postharvest fungicides: Scholar®, Penbotec® and Mertect® for select fungal isolates.
expansum in Washington state (Li and Xiao, 2008). Chemicals used to control postharvest decay are limited and their proper application and rotation are necessary to avoid development of resistance. Currently, the level of resistance to Penbotec®, Scholar® and Mertect® for postharvest fungal plant pathogens in Pennsylvania is unknown and the information contained in this report will benefit the PA pome fruit growers to utilize the most effective chemicals to control decay during long-term storage.
Materials and Methods
Collection of Decayed Apple Fruit
Fungi were isolated from decayed apple fruit from three commercial packinghouses located in Adams County Pennsylvania. All samples were collected from bins that were removed directly from cold storage. Common apple varieties like ‘Honeycrisp’, ‘Red Delicious’, ‘Golden Delicious’, and ‘Gala’, which are highly susceptible to decay and have histories of fungicide failures, were collected for analysis.
Fungal Isolation and Identification
All fungal isolates were obtained from decayed apple fruit using standard laboratory procedures. The isolates were cultured on Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) and maintained on PDA slants for long term storage. The identity of select isolates was accomplished by extracting genomic DNA from each isolate using the extract-N-amp kit from Sigma and amplified using gene specific primers. Amplicons from each isolate were analyzed via agarose gel electrophoresis and purified using the Qiagen PCR-clean up kit prior to DNA sequence analysis. Identity of the isolates was obtained using BLAST (Basic Local Alignment Search Tool) analysis of the amplicon consensus nucleotide sequence.
Determination of MIC (Minimum Inhibitory Concentration) for Postharvest Fungicides
Sensitivity to fungicides for control of postharvest decay, including Scholar® (fludioxonil), Mertect® (thiabendazole), and Penbotec® (pyrimethanil), were carried out by determining Minimum Inhibitory Concentrations (MIC) as previously described by Pianzzola et al., (2004). Briefly, spore suspensions of the fungal isolates were prepared by adding 5 ml of Tween-treated water (50 μl of Tween-20 to 50 ml of sterile distilled water) to a sporulating fungal culture. The spore suspension was collected into sterile 15 ml conical tubes and adjusted to ~1 x 105 conidia per ml. Two hundred µl of PDA was applied to each well in a 96-well plate containing a range of concentrations of each fungicide. Control wells containing PDA only were included to assess fungal growth. Twenty µl of conidial suspension were added to each well. Plates were incubated at 20°C and assessed for fungal growth after 48 hours.
Results and Discussion
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Multiple year analysis of postharvest decay causing pathogens has indicated that Penicillium spp. are the most prevalent and persistent problem for the Pennsylvania Apple industry. Therefore, the MIC for 3 commonly used postharvest fungicides were conducted for all of the Penicillium isolates obtained from three different storage facilities (Table 2). Penicillium spp. isolates obtained from the organic facility were completely sensitive to Penbotec® and Scholar®, and only 6 out of 108 (5.5%) of the isolates grew above the labeled application rate for Mertect®. Two isolates obtained from the location that only uses preharvest chemicals were sensitive to all 3 postharvest chemicals. The remaining 100 isolates from the facility that uses both pre and postharvest chemicals had 23 (23%) of the isolates that grew above the label rate for Mertect® which is much higher than either location that did not use postharvest fungicides. This data suggests that the isolates from the locations not receiving postharvest treatment were more sensitive which is in accordance with previous observations that fungicide resistance builds up over time after repeated exposure to a given compound. Data from this study have shown that resistance to Mertect has emerged, and that application of Penbotec® and Scholar® may provide better control for blue mold. However, additional studies involving inoculation tests with these pathogens are necessary to determine if “resistant” isolates can overcome fruit treated with Mertect®, Scholar® and or Penbotec® fungicide at the recommended labeled rate under simulated commercial conditions.
Conclusions
Data from this study has indicated that resistance to Mertect® (as defined by the ability of the fungus to grow at or above the labeled application rate in vitro) has occurred for some of the blue mold isolates collected from 3 different locations in Pennsylvania during 2013. Use of Mertect® as a postharvest treatment on apple fruits may result in control failures during storage. Optimal control may be accomplished by rotating the use of Scholar® and Penbotec® until new postharvest fungicides are labeled and available for use on pome fruits. The information gleaned from this study directly benefits the PA pome fruit growing, processing, and packing industry to control postharvest decay causing fungi. In conclusion, as with any disease management program, proper application, utilization, and rotation of fungicides with different modes of action will help to maintain their efficacy.
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Table 1. Isolates from different apple cultivars obtained from cold storages in Adams County Pennsylvania. Common names for the diseases are indicated instead of the Latin names of the pathogens. Blue Mold (Penicillium spp.), white rot (Botryosphaeria spp.), Bitter rot (Colletotrichum spp.), Grey mold (Botrytis cinerea), Mucor rot (Mucor piriformis), Alternaria rot (Alternaria spp.).
Location Fungicides Cultivar Blue Mold White rot Bitter rot Grey Mold Mucor Rot Alternaria Rot 1 Pre and post Red Delicious 48
Table 2. Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) for 3 postharvest fungicides for 206 Penicillium spp. isolates obtained from 3 cold storage facilities located in Pennsylvania.
Location Fungicides # of Isolates Mertect® # of Isolates Penbotec® # of Isolates Scholar® 1 Pre &
Figure 1. Photo showing cultural morphologies of fungal isolates obtained from decayed apple fruit from cold storage in Pennsylvania. From left to right, first row: Penicillium spp., Botrytis cinerea, and Alternaria spp. Second row: Mucor piriformis, Colletotrichum spp., and Botryosphaeria dothidea.
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Figure 2.’Golden Delicious’ (A) and ‘Fuji’ (B) apples showing symptoms of “white rot” caused by Botryosphaeria dothidea.
A.
B
Figure 3. Botryosphaeria dothidea cultures A. showing typical black colored mycelium, with irregular margins, and B. abundant aerial mycelial growth.
A.
B.
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Literature Cited
1. Leahu, V, Cojocaru, A, Cumpanici, A (2011) Moldovan Apple Value Chain Study. USAID Agricultural Competitiveness and Enterprise Development Project
2. Li, H. X., and Xiao, C. L. 2008. Characterization of fludioxonil-resistant and pyrimethanil-resistant phenotypes of Penicillium expansum from apple. Phytopathology 98:427-435.
3. Pianzzola, M. J., Moscatelli, M., and Vero, S. 2004. Characterization of Penicillium isolates associated with blue mold on apple in Uruguay. Plant Disease. 88:23-28.
4. Rosenberger, D. A. 1997. Recent research and changing options for controlling postharvest decays of apples. Pages 42-53 in: Proc. Harvesting, Handling, and Storage Workshop, Cornell Univ., Ithaca, 14 August 1997. Northeast Regional Agric. Engin. Serv. Publ. NRAES-112, Cornell University, Ithaca.
5. Spotts RA, Cervantes LA, Mielke EA (1999) Variability in postharvest decay among apple cultivars. Plant Disease 83:1051
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to sincerely thank SHAP for their financial assistance to support this project. Mention of trade names or commercial products in the publication does not imply recommendation or endorsement by the United States Department of Agriculture.
Presentations from the Mid-Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable Convention
tree fruit and peach sessions are now posted at the SHAP website:
http://shaponline.org/.
You may also renew your membership online!
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1
State Horticultural Association of Pennsylvania — Progress Report for 2013
Development and application of a rapid dye-based method to determine pesticide resistance in pre- and postharvest tree fruit pathogens Drs. Kari A. Peter1, Maria del Mar Jimenez-Gasco1, and Wayne M. Jurick2
1Penn State University, Department of Plant Pathology and Environmental Microbiology 2USDA-ARS, Food Quality Laboratory, Beltsville, MD Summary To effectively manage fungicide or antibiotic resistance, a tool is a needed for researchers to assist producers to quickly determine the level of fungicide or antibiotic resistance, or indicated shifts towards resistance, occurring in their orchards. The objectives of this project address two SHAP research priorities: Management of Antibiotic and Fungicide Resistance and Bacterial Spot Management. Commonly used in the medical field to determine the effects of anti-cancer drugs, we are developing a colorimetric 96-well microtiter plate assay to examine plant pathogen - fungicide/antibiotic combination, as well as assessing cross-resistance, that needs monitoring in orchards in PA and MD for apple scab (Venturia inaequalis), bacterial spot (Xanthomonas arboricola pv. pruni), blue mold (Penicillium expansum), and gray mold (Botrytis cinerea) . Described in this report is the completion of the first objective: to collect infected fruit and leaves, isolate the infecting fungi or bacteria, and identify to species the pathogens causing apple scab, bacterial spot, blue mold, and gray mold.
Tree fruit are under continuous disease pressure during their life cycle, whether it is in the field or during storage. Apple scab (Venturia inaequalis) and bacterial spot (Xanthomonas arboricola pv. pruni) are among the most economically important preharvest pathogens of pome and stone fruit, respectively. Blue mold (Penicillium expansum) and gray mold (Botrytis cinerea) are two of the most economically important postharvest pathogens on pome fruit during storage. Consequently, chemical control is widely used before and after harvest to protect them from decay. Many of the current pesticides used to control fungal and bacterial pathogens have single-site binding targets. Due to their single-site nature, the pathogens have developed mechanisms to overcome these chemicals, rendering them ineffective for control that result in significant economic losses.
Resistance to pesticides controlling tree fruit diseases is an ever-present challenge faced by growers. The main tool to manage resistance is to monitor their sensitivity using fungicide- or antibiotic-amended plate agar. Particularly for fungi, the most widely utilized is the amended agar plate assay where the pathogen is grown on agar amended with different concentrations of fungicide, mycelial growth is measured, and relative growth rates analyzed to determine shifts in fungicide sensitivity. This method is labor intensive, time consuming, expensive, and toxic since large amounts of fungicide amended media are required for analysis. The agar plate assay generates very useful data; however, it does not do so in a manner for growers to utilize that information within the season. Therefore, a rapid, cost-effective method for assessing and monitoring pesticide sensitivity is needed for delivering timely information to growers so they can make the appropriate changes in pesticide management decisions. One such method is a
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2
colorimetric 96-well microtiter plate assay initially developed in the medical field to assess the cytoxic effects of anticancer drugs, and has been adapted for assessing fungicide sensitivity for several plant pathogens. The assay uses the indicator dye resazurin for monitoring microbial activity through a chemical reaction. When cells are growing, the dye changes from blue to fluorescent pink; inhibited growth maintains the blue color of the dye. As a result, effective concentration of fungicides can be calculated using the absorbance values generated based on the color change. We proposed the development of a dye-based microtiter assays, using resazurin, to be able to rapidly determine the pesticide sensitivity for two preharvest pathogens (V. inaequalis, X. arboricola pv. pruni), and two postharvest pathogens (P. expansum, B. cinerea). Over a multi-year period the following objectives will be addressed: 1) a variety of isolates of V. inaequalis, X.arboricola pv. pruni, P. expansum, and B. cinerea from infected fruit or leaves in PA will be collected and identified; 2) fungicide or antibiotic sensitivity will be characterized using the amended agar plate method; 3) the dye-based method to determine fungicide or antibiotic sensitivity will be optimized; and 4) the two pesticide sensitivity characterization methods will be analyzed.
The objective to be completed for year 2013 was to collect and identify a variety of isolates of V. inaequalis, X. arboricola pv. pruni, P. expansum, and B. cinerea from infected fruit or leaves in PA. Ten isolates of each pathogen were collected and identified to species as shown in Table 1. Fruit with blue and gray mold symptoms were collected from a single packing house in PA. Leaves exhibiting apple scab and bacterial spot symptoms were collected from several locations in PA. These isolates were positively identified to species by extracting genomic DNA from single-spore cultures (for fungal samples), amplifying and sequencing conserved regions, such as ITS, β-tubulin, or the Cyt b genes. For sequencing and identification of X. arboricola pv. pruni isolates, 16S primers were used. The resulting sequence data was analyzed using publically available BLAST software (NCBI) to determine sequence identity.
Table 1. Summary of collected and identified isolates.
Pathogen Source No. isolates collected Genes used for species identification
Venturia inaequalis leaves 10 Cyt b Penicillium expansum fruit 10 β-tubulin Botrytis cinerea fruit 10 ITS Xanthamona pruni leaves 10 16S
We are currently in the process of screening the isolates using the amended agar plate method (second objective).
Acknowledgements: The authors wish to thank SHAP for their financial support for this project. We are also grateful for the assistance from Sarah Bardsley, a graduate student in the Department of Plant Pathology and Environmental Microbiology, for her help with the bacterial spot isolates.
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Research report: Effects of sublethal exposure to insecticides on mobility, feeding, and reproduction in the brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys Jeanne D. Sullivan1 and Tracy C. Leskey2
1West Virginia Wesleyan College; 2USDA-ARS Appalachian Fruit Research Station Introduction The invasive brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB, Halyomorpha halys) has recently caused severe economic damage in orchards in the Mid-Atlantic states (United States Apple Association, 2010; Leskey & Hamilton, 2011; Leskey et al., 2012a) and a consequent increase in the use of insecticides (Leskey et al., 2012b), to the detriment of IPM programs. This highly mobile bug moves readily between crops and wild hosts, and as a result, BMSB are likely to be exposed to a range of insecticide concentrations as new individuals move in to previously-treated areas. Exposure to some insecticides, even at relatively high concentrations, is not uniformly lethal to BMSBs (Nielsen et al., 2008; Leskey et al., 2012c). Sublethal exposure to insecticides can affect the locomotion, reproduction, and feeding behavior of insects (reviewed by Haynes, 1988; Desneux et al., 2007). Knowing how sublethal doses of insecticides affect BMSB can assist growers in establishing effective management programs. We selected four insecticides to test for sublethal effects: bifenthrin (Brigade WSP), dinotefuran (Scorpion 35SL), methomyl (Lannate), and a combination neonicotinoid and pyrethroid (Endigo ZC). After establishing concentrations that produced sublethal effects after exposure to 7-day-old residues, we assessed (1) survival and reproduction, (2) horizontal mobility, and (3) vertical mobility of BMSB in control and insecticide treatments. Methods All BMSB used in this study were collected from overwintering sites in Martinsburg, WV and Front Royal, VA, in the fall of 2012, or as they emerged from overwintering sites in Buckhannon, WV in late spring, 2013. Overwintering bugs were maintained in BugDorm insect cages in an outbuilding at ambient temperature and light until 10 May, when they were transferred to a colony room at 16:8 L:D, 23°C, and approximately 50% relative humidity. Bugs were provided water and food (peanuts, soybeans, dried tomatoes, and apples), with paper towels as refuges inside each cage. Summer generation BMSB were collected from the grounds of the USDA ARS site in Kearneysville, WV and from farms surrounding that location. Identifying which insecticide residues produced sublethal effects To screen for sublethal effects, BMSB were first exposed to a range of concentrations of each insecticide, beginning on 20 May 2013. The exposure protocol was modified from Leskey et al. (2012c). Briefly, an aerosol spray of each insecticide, to droplet level, was applied to glass petri dishes, covering the dish with approximately 500 µL of the sprayed material. Treatments for each insecticide initially include the highest field application rate recommended on the insecticide’s label, the lowest recommended field application rate, half of the highest rate, one quarter of the highest rate, and 10% of the highest rate. Concentrations were selected for examining sublethal effects if lethality at five days remained below 30% and at least 80% of the exposed bugs showed impaired activity (e.g. were moribund or demonstrated uncoordinated locomotion when scored by an observer who was blind to the treatment that had been applied). Control treatments were sprayed with water only. After application, all residues were aged in the laboratory for 7 days under full-spectrum lights. Bugs were exposed to treatments for 4.5 hours, as in Leskey et al. (2012c) for all tests reported here. Following exposure, bugs used in this part of the study were maintained individually, in small plastic cups with food and water. Sample size was 20 (10 male and 10 female BMSB) for most treatments, 40 (20 males, 20 females) in the control treatment, and 30 (15 males, 15 females) in the lowest concentration of dinotefuran that was tested. Survival and activity were assessed at the end of the exposure period, and each day following exposure for a period of five days, allowing us to select two concentrations of each insecticide to test for sublethal effects. Effects on survival and reproduction Reproduction of BMSB in control and insecticide treatments was evaluated after the same insecticide exposure protocol described above. Treatments were applied from 13 – 28 June, 2013. Surviving males and females that had been exposed to the same treatment (15-21 bugs of each sex per treatment) were randomly assigned to pairs 48 hours
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following exposure. Pairs were videotaped from approximately 5 pm to 8 am the following morning. Analysis of mating behavior will be reported elsewhere. Pairs were maintained in the colony room in small plastic boxes with mesh-covered ventilation windows and given water and food (peanuts, soybeans, dried tomatoes, and grapes). Folded paper inside the box and a paper lining on the lid provided substrates for egg-laying. Survival and egg production of pairs were checked daily from initial pairing until early August for BMSB of the overwintering generation, and every two to four days from August through November for summer generation and surviving BMSB from the overwintering generation. To avoid depressing egg production due to sperm depletion, paired males were replaced by untreated males if the paired male died and the female survived. Data were analyzed in IBM SPSS Statistics 21 using non-parametric statistics due to deviations from normality that were not resolved when data were transformed. Analyses compared the different treatments separately for low-concentration and high-concentration applications. Effects on mobility Tests of the effect of sublethal exposure to insecticides on mobility employed the same assays used by Lee et al. (2012) to assess the effects of freshly-applied insecticides, with some modifications. Approximately 10 male and 10 female bugs were exposed to each insecticide from 9 – 17 July, 2013.
i. Horizontal mobility: EthoVision software was used to determine the time each bug spent being mobile, highly mobile or immobile. Analysis of horizontal movement distance and velocity will be reported elsewhere. Movement of exposed bugs was recorded for 10 minutes at 0, 1.5, 3, and 4.5 hours following introduction to the treated petri dishes. Another 10-minute recording was made approximately 24 hours after exposure to determine whether bugs quickly recover from any impairment to their horizontal mobility. ANOVA on square-root transformed data or non-parametric analyses of variance were performed using IBM SPSS Statistics 21, depending on whether transformed variables showed normal distributions and homogeneity of variances. Analyses compared the different insecticides and were carried out separately for the higher and lower concentrations of the tested insecticides. ii. Vertical mobility: Immediately following exposure and the initial horizontal mobility assessment, vertical mobility was assessed by measuring climbing distance in 33-cm-high, clear, plastic tubes over three, 5-minute trials per bug (Lee et al., 2012). Only BMSB that were capable of locomotion were tested in the climbing apparatus. This assay was repeated 24 hours later to assess rapid recovery and again, one week following exposure, to assess longer-term recovery. Total climbing distance over 15 minutes was analyzed using non-parametric statistics in IBM SPSS Statistics 21. Analyses compared the ability of BMSB to climb after exposure to different insecticides and were carried out separately for the higher and lower concentrations of the tested insecticides.
Results Identifying which insecticide residues produced sublethal effects Except for those exposed to methomyl, BMSB exposed to 7-day-old residues at recommended field application rates died in substantial numbers within the first five days after exposure (80-100% for bifenthrin, 30-45% for Endigo, and 50-53% for dinotefuran, vs. 17.5% for control bugs). Only 3 of 40 (7.5%) BMSB exposed to the methomyl in the range of recommended field application rates died. Concentrations of methomyl at the low and high ends of the field application range were selected to test for sublethal effects, since methomyl may affect reproduction or produce subtler effects on locomotion than our initial screen would detect. Additional BMSB were exposed to lower concentrations of bifenthrin, Endigo, and dinotefuran in a step-wise fashion. Where both of the original criteria could not be met for a particular insecticide and concentration (i.e. treatments in which at least 80% of BMSB showed decreased activity but fewer than 70% survived to five days), selection for further testing was made based on survivorship to reduce the likelihood of examining primarily lethal effects instead of sublethal effects. In the selected treatments, survivorship was 75-90% after 5 days, and the insects exhibited reduced activity at 24 hours post-exposure (0% to 60% ranked “active”). In the control treatment, 92.5% of BMSB were active 24 hours post-exposure. Two concentrations of each insecticide were tested for sublethal effects (Table 1).
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Table 1. Insecticide application rates used in this study. Tested rates
Insecticide
Recommended field rate (per ha)
Low rate (% of field rate, %survival)
High rate (% of field rate, %survival)
Bifenthrin (Brigade WSP) 896-2242 g 89.6 g/ha (10% of low rate, 75%) 224.2 g/ha (10% of high rate, 85%) Endigo ZC 365-438 ml 109.5 ml/ha (25% of high rate, 90%) 42.8 ml/ha (10% of high rate, 75%) Methomyl (Lannate SP) 560-1120 g 560 g/ha (low rate, 100%) 1120 g/ha (high rate, 100%) Dinotefuran (Scorpion 35SL) 585-877 ml 43.9 ml/ha (5% of high rate, 76.7%) 58.5 ml/ha (10% of low rate, 82.5%)
Effects on survival and reproduction During the reproduction portion of this study, post-exposure survival (in days) among overwintered BMSB was not significantly different across treatments for females, nor for males exposed to lower-concentration insecticides ( Table 2; Kruskal-Wallis test, p > 0.284). Males exposed to higher concentration insecticides varied significantly in survival time by treatment (Table 2; Kruskal-Wallis test; X2 = 10.940; p= 0.027), with the highest survival in the control and methomyl-exposed BMSB and the lowest in the Endigo and dinotefuran treatments. Survival at 24 hours among BMSB exposed to insecticides for mobility testing did not vary by treatment among the lower-concentration pesticides, probably because survival was high across most treatments (Males: Fisher’s Exact test, p = 0.311; females: Fisher’s Exact test, p = 0.184). Among the high-concentration pesticides, survival was high (90-100%) for control and methomyl treatments but lower (44%-66%) for the remaining treatments (Males: Fisher’s Exact test, p = 0.018; Females: Fisher’s Exact test, p = 0.029). Reproductive activity was highly variable within and between treatments. Among overwintered females, 45.4% of control bugs reproduced, compared to 40.0% of bugs exposed to bifenthrin (27.8% in the higher concentration but 52.9% of those exposed to the lower concentration) , 34.4% of bugs exposed to Endigo, 60.0% of bugs exposed to methomyl, and 21.2% of bugs exposed to dinotefuran. Among the BMSB females that did reproduce, there were no significant differences across treatments in timing of the first egg mass, total number of egg masses, total number of eggs, or percent hatching in the first egg mass (Table 2; Kruskal-Wallis tests, p > 0.206). None of the summer generation BMSB laid eggs, suggesting that the fourth- and fifth-instar nymphs collected in early August for this part of the study had already committed to overwintering and were not in reproductive condition. An unknown number of adults collected from the field for the locomotion study at that time may also have committed to overwintering. Given this observation, analyses of reproduction, survival and locomotion are confined to the overwintering generation of BMSB in this report. Effects on horizontal mobility During the first ten minutes of exposure to insecticide treatments, BMSB did not vary significantly in the time spent in locomotion among the treatments (Table 2; ANOVAs on square-root transformed mobility data. Lower concentrations: F = 1.30, p = 0.277. Higher concentrations: F = 1.804, p = 0.135). By the final observation period, at 4.5 hours of exposure, there were significant differences among treatments in time spent in locomotion (Kruskal-Wallis tests: Lower concentrations: X2 = 30.236; p < 0.001; Higher concentrations: X2 = 35.968; p < 0.001). BMSB were mobile for longer periods in the control and methomyl treatments at both concentrations at 4.5 hours (Table 2), while BMSB exposed to bifenthrin, Endigo and dinotefuran were immobile for most of the 10-minute observation period at 4.5 hours (Table 2). Effects on vertical mobility The fraction of males able to climb immediately following treatment was not significantly different from that of females (Fisher Exact tests, p > 0.211), except for the lower-concentration bifenthrin treatment (Fisher Exact test, p = 0.035). Male and female BMSB were therefore combined for analysis of vertical climbing ability. Immediately following exposure, BMSB showed significant differences in distance climbed by treatment (Table 2; low concentration insecticides: Kruskal-Wallis test, X2 = 28.630, p < 0.00; high concentration insecticides: Kruskal-Wallis test, X2 = 37.842, p < 0.001). Among the lower-concentration treatments, BMSB from the control treatment climbed the farthest distance, on average, while those in Endigo and dinotefuran treatments climbed the shortest distance and those
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in the bifenthrin and methomyl treatments, an intermediate distance (Table 2). After a day’s recovery time, BMSB again showed differences in distance climbed by treatment (low concentration insecticides: Kruskal-Wallis test, X2 = 11.865, p = 0.018; high concentration insecticides: Kruskal-Wallis test, X2 = 18.693, p = 0.001), but the rank order of the mean distance changed. After one week, sample size had declined to due to mortality, especially in the high-concentration treatments. Differences among treatments persisted in the low concentration treatment with additional changes in the rank order (Table 2; Kruskal-Wallis test, X2 = 10.999, p= 0.027) but were no longer significant among the bugs exposed to high insecticide concentrations (Table 2; Kruskal-Wallis test, X2 = 2.702,p = 0.609). Table 2. Effects of sublethal insecticide exposure on survival, reproduction and locomotion of BMSB. Control
Conclusions Seven-day-old residues of dinotefuran, bifenthrin, and Endigo, tested at concentrations well below field application rates, generated lethal and sublethal effects on BMSB, while methomyl, tested at field application rates, produced effects that were generally similar to controls. Percent survival and length of survival was lower for BMSB exposed to the higher concentrations of dinotefuran, Endigo, and, to a lesser extent, bifenthrin. These three insecticides retained some degree of lethality seven days after application. Effects on mobility were much more pronounced than effects on reproduction. Somewhat fewer BMSB reproduced after exposure to diotefuran, bifenthrin and Endigo, particularly at the higher concentrations; however, reproductive output varied greatly within each treatment and did not differ significantly by treatment among BMSB that did reproduce. Horizontal mobility was impaired among BMSB exposed to fairly low concentrations of week-old residues of bifenthrin, dinotefuran, or Endigo, compared to bugs exposed to methomyl or control treatments. Effects on horizontal mobility accumulated over time, and by 4.5 hours’ exposure, most BMSB exposed to dinotefuran, bifenthrin, or Endigo
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were nearly immobile at both the higher and lower concentrations tested, while control and methomyl-exposed bugs remained active. Except in control and methomyl treatments, many bugs were moribund at 4.5 hours, particularly in the higher-concentration treatments. BMSB exposed to lower concentrations of the insecticides retained some ability to climb immediately following exposure, moving distances that ranged from approximately a sixth as far as controls (Endigo and dinotefuran) to about half as far as controls (bifenthrin and methomyl). Exposure to higher concentrations strongly affected the vertical climbing ability of BMSB immediately after exposure to bifenthrin, Endigo, and dinotefuran. Bugs exposed to higher-concentration methomyl climbed 66% as far as control bugs, but BMSB exposed to the other three insecticides climbed no more than 5% as far as controls. At a day post-exposure, patterns of change in vertical distance climbed differed by treatment. BMSB exposed to low-concentration Endigo, low concentration methomyl, high-concentration bifenthrin and high-concentration Endigo climbed longer distances than they had previously. Some of this increase in climbing distance may have arisen due to the deaths of a few of the most-affected bugs; however, individual BMSB tested at both times also showed increases in distance climbed, consistent with recovery from the initial insecticide exposure. Among low-concentration treatments, BMSB exposed to bifenthrin and Endigo traveled about as far as control bugs, also consistent with recovery, and methomyl-exposed bugs climbed farther than controls. BMSB in the remaining treatments climbed shorter distances at a day post-exposure. Dinotefuran-exposed bugs in the higher-concentration treatment did not climb at all, while some BMSB in this treatment had been capable of climbing immediately following exposure. The consistent, negative change in vertical distance climbed among dinotefuran-exposed bugs at both concentrations suggests that dinotefuran’s effect on vertical mobility accumulates for some time after exposure. Survival at one week was low across most treatments in the mobility study, with the sharpest declines for BMSB exposed to high concentration bifenthrin, Endigo and dinotefuran. BMSB in all treatments except high-concentration Endigo and both concentrations of dinotefuran climbed shorter distances than they had at one day post-exposure. Recovery of climbing ability may have proceeded more slowly for bugs exposed to Endigo and dinotefuran; alternatively, mortality may have been greater among the bugs most affected by exposure to these insecticides, leaving the less-affected bugs to be re-tested. In summary, week-old insecticide residues of bifenthrin, Endigo, and dinotefuran at both concentrations initially reduced both horizontal and vertical locomotion, compared to controls. Dinotefuran at both concentrations, high-concentration Endigo, and high-concentration bifenthrin continued to impair the ability of BMSB to climb for at least a day post-exposure. Three of the four insecticides (all except methomyl) also generated some lethality among exposed bugs, at least at the higher concentrations used here. If mobility-compromised BMSB are unable to leave treated areas and therefore remain in contact with insecticide residues for a longer time, increased lethality may occur, amplifying the protective effect of older residues. The general lack of effect of methomyl suggests that methomyl residues had degraded by seven days, such that this treatment had no lethal effects and few sublethal effects. Dinotefuran, Endigo and bifenthrin, in contrast, showed substantial, sublethal effects seven days after application, even at concentrations well below field application rates, effects that may help to protect crops from damage by BMSB.
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Leskey, T.C. and G. C. Hamilton. 2011. Brown marmorated stink bug working group meeting, June 2011 report. http://projects.ipmcenters.org/Northeastern/FundedProjects/ReportFiles/Pship2010/Pship2010-Leskey-FinalReport-Meeting-June-2011-237195.pdf.
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PURPOSE: The purpose of the Bittner Travel Fellowship Award is to expose young people working in the Pennsylvania fruit industry to new ideas on fruit production being used in other areas of the world. In order to do this, the State Horticultural Association of Pennsylvania has established a Fellowship of up to $500 that can be awarded annually to someone working in the fruit industry, and promoting leadership within the society.
RECIPIENT: Must be a fruit grower, or someone else 18 yrs. or older, associated with fruit production in Pennsylvania who would like to travel outside the state of Pennsylvania.
The recipient would be expected to make a short presentation to the SHAP membership at the annual meeting concerning the information learned in this travel.
APPLICATION PROCEDURE: To apply, a brief explanation of the proposed trip should be submitted in writing. The application letter should include the name, address, age, and potential trip being considered by the applicant.
Applications should be submitted by November 1st to be considered for use during the subsequent year. Applications for the award should be submitted to:
Maureen Irvin, Executive Secretary State Horticultural Association of Pennsylvania
480 Mountain Road Orrtanna, PA 17353
The SHAP Board of Directors will review the nominations prior to their November Board meeting, at which time they will make the final decision.
The award will be presented at the Annual Fruit and Vegetable Growers Dinner in January.
Dr. Carl S. Bittner Travel Fellowship Award Sponsored by the State Horticultural Association of Pennsylvania
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