Final report for GW23-247
Project Information
Problem and question: Valued at $1.2 billion and ranking the second most valuable vegetable crop, processing tomatoes are a vital component of California's agricultural industry (CDFA, 2020). A new Fusarium disease (Fusarium stem rot and decline, driven by F. noneumartii) is driving severe yield loss and the only management practices are chemical-based and harmful for the environment (PMSP- Processing Tomato, 2021). This pathogen appears to affect other warm season rotation crops—however, effects on cool season crops are unknown. In addition, several weeds appear to be hosts but, weed studies have not included winter species, which are the primary weed management targets due to winter rains.
Research and outreach: The goal of this project is to assess California cool season cash/cover crops and weeds to determine the host status to F. noneumartii, and the effect on disease development in processing tomato and soil health and nutrition. This information will be used to develop avoidance and crop rotation guidelines in an effort to improve overall sustainability of the processing tomato industry.
Dissemination: We propose to disseminate our findings to growers across the state through outreach meetings and newsletter articles. Our lab will host a Vegetable Disease Field Day in 2024 with our research trial as a demonstration plot for effects of cool season crop rotations on tomato disease development.
Projected outcomes: (1) Avoidance recommendations for 10 cash/cover crops, (2) cool season crop rotation recommendations for one key annual rotation crop-tomato, (3) weed management guidelines for host weeds, (4) outreach publications (two) and presentations (three) summarizing above, to facilitate adoption.
Research Objectives:
- Developing avoidance, rotation crop and weed management strategies which minimize losses from soil borne Fusarium noneumartii in annual crops, particularly the highly susceptible keystone annual, processing tomatoes.
- Assess disease development of Fusarium noneumartii in common California winter cash crops to determine highly susceptible crops to avoid planting in infested fields
- Evaluate common California winter cash and cover crops for their ability to reduce disease incidence in tomato when compared to chemical fallow.
- Assess cool season weed hosts, to determine weed management targets.
- Assessing the effect of common California rotation and cover crops on soil physiochemistry, carbon cycling, and associated decomposition of pathogen-infested litter.
- Characterize soil nutrition, structure and compaction, and organic matter under different winter cash and cover crops.
- Measure the decomposition rates of different pathogen-infested crop residues in order to compare the level of organic matter addition, rates of carbon cycling, as well as effects on persistence of infested tissue residing in the soil.
- Work with producers to quantify the benefits of rotation and cover crops for crop health and disease control in annual crops, with an emphasis on tomatoes.
- Work with growers who are currently utilizing a rotation plan to assess the effects on soil health and disease losses
Education Objectives :
- Provide crop recommendations in publications distributed via Cooperative Extension blogs, updates to the UC IPM F. noneumartii pest note (in prep), tomato crop rotation recommendation webpage, newsletters, a hard copy trifold pamphlet, and a more detailed hard copy spiral bound booklet.
- Present a summary of outcomes and recommendations at the winter cooperative extension outreach meeting.
- Present at the Vegetable Crop Disease field day so that stakeholders can see the research in progress, using our research trial as a demonstration plot.
Cooperators
- - Producer
Research
This project took place in the Sacramento valley of California. Controlled trials took place at the UC Davis Plant Pathology Experiment Station. Grower trials took place at 4 field sites, 1 in yolo county and 3 in San Joaquin county. Controlled trials were used to study winter cash/cover crop/chemical fallow/weedy fallow rotation cycle in a field infested with Fusarium noneumartii. The field was planted to tomatoes for the summer of 2023, then planted to plots containing cool season cash/cover crops, chemical fallow, and weedy fallow for winter 2023 to spring 2024, and then back to tomatoes for summer 2024.
The trial was set up in a complete randomized block design. The winter trial was divided into three blocks, each containing 5, 240ft rows divided into three 70ft plots. Within each block, each randomized 70ft plot was planted to a different crop. The cash and cover crops tested were selected based off current winter crops grown in areas where processing tomatoes are also grown. Chemical fallow plots were treated with herbicides both pre and post planting as needed. The location of each crop was marked and disease development assessed in summer 2024 tomato and compared to the different crop treatments.
Objective 1: Developing avoidance, rotation crop and weed management strategies which minimize losses from soil borne Fusarium noneumartii in annual crops, particularly the highly susceptible keystone annual, processing tomatoes.
Obj 1a: Assess disease development of Fusarium noneumartii in common California winter cash crops to determine highly susceptible crops to avoid planting in infested fields
In the fall of 2023, field trials were initiated to develop crop avoidance and rotation guidelines for management of Fusarium noneumartii, causal agent of Fusarium stem rot and decline (FRD), an emergent destructive crop disease. To assess what cool season crops may be affected by F. noneumartii, we planted romaine lettuce, spinach, carrots, broccoli, cabbage, parsley, garlic, onions, cilantro, vetch, wheat, alfalfa, fava beans, and mustard in an infested field in a randomized complete block design with 3 blocks. The trial was divided into two sections, one for crops that could reach maturity by April (meaning they could be used in a single year rotation with tomatoes) and one for crops that needed a longer growing season (meaning they could not be used in a single year rotation with tomatoes).
Once a particular crop reached maturity, it was evaluated for disease symptoms. 10 random plants per block (30 total per crop) were selected and evaluated for percent of canopy symptomatic and incidence of foot, crown, and stem rot. Any symptomatic plants were collected and taken to the lab for disease diagnostics to determine the causal agent of rot symptoms. Identification was done based on morphologic fungal structures and DNA sequencing of the Elongation Factor genes. Sequences were matched to our known sequence that has been deposited on NCBI BLAST. All crops were evaluated by end of July 2024.
Obj 1b: Evaluate common California winter cash and cover crops for their ability to reduce disease incidence in tomato when compared to chemical fallow:
In early April 2024, the short cool season crops (right section of the trial) were mowed and incorporated into their respective plots, and beds prepared with inline drip per industry standard. On April 23rd, 2024 the field was planted to tomatoes. We used processing tomato cultivar SVTM9032 which has shown to be moderately susceptible to FRD so that we can see clear differential disease development. Plants were monitored throughout the season. Just before the canopy closed, we established 15 plant monitoring plots which were used to measure incidence of disease symptoms (number of plants with a particular symptom out of 15). In August and September, we evaluated disease incidence at 2 weeks pre-harvest and at harvest. This involved recording non-destructive canopy decline data within the monitoring plots and destructive rot data from outside the monitoring plots.
As part of the winter layout, we included one chemical fallow plot (bare earth) per replicate. This was used as a negative control for the summer evaluation. These bare earth plots should lead to the lowest level of disease in tomatoes as there are no crops that could act as hosts and potentially increase soil inoculum loads. We will compared disease levels in tomato in the different cool season crop treatment plots to the chemical fallow treatment plots and determine significance using ANOVA and Dunnet's means comparison
Obj 1c: Assess cool season weed hosts, to determine weed management targets.
Within the field trial described in Obj1a, we left one plot per block empty to become a weedy fallow plot. In early spring, we cataloged all weed species in theses plots. We then used the same disease evaluation method described in Obj1a to determine the host status of each weed species.
Objective 2: Assessing the effect of common California rotation and cover crops on soil physiochemistry, carbon cycling, and associated decomposition of pathogen-infested litter.
The field was prepared and planted as described in objective 1.
Obj 2a. Characterize soil nutrition and organic matter under different winter cash and cover crops.
Soil samples were taken from the field at the following time points; pre-winter 2023, post-winter 2024, and post-harvest 2024.
Soil samples were collected by taking 3 random soil cores per crop plot down to 6 inches depth aimed near the root zone of the plants. Soil was then bulked for each plot, dried, homogenized, and stored at ambient room temperature and humidity.
Soil organic matter was measured using a loss of ignition assay. Each soil sample was measured out into foil weight boats, dried at 100C for 48 hours, weighed, and then baked at 450C in a furnace for 8hours to remove any organic material. After baking, the samples were allowed to cool, and reweighed. The difference in weight was recorded as organic matter content. Change in organic matter was recorded as the percent change in organic matter pre and post winter treatment.
Soil samples collected above were submitted to Dellavalle labs for nutrient analysis. Due to delays in soil nutrient analysis, the results are still pending.
Obj 2c: Measure the decomposition rates of different pathogen-infested crop residues in order to compare the level of organic matter addition, rates of carbon cycling, as well as effects on persistence of infested tissue residing in the soil
Before the winter crops were incorporated in early April, we collected one trash bag of plant material from each crop replicate plot (3 bags total per crop, 18 total). Plant material was then laid out in the sun to dry for 4 weeks. Once sufficiently dry, the residues were shredded to 5-10 cm pieces. This shredded material was then inserted into small mesh bags, weighed, and buried in the field where each crop was planted over the summer. Bags were buried in triplicate so that they could be removed and weighed at three timepoints throughout the summer (different bags for each time point to avoid digging up and reburying bags multiple times). At each timepoint, the specific bags were removed from the field and loose dirt removed. Bags were then dried in a 60C oven for 1 week before being weighed. Percent change in mass before and after burial (three total timepoints) was calculated. This allowed us to measure how fast these different crops decompose over the summer to characterize organic matter contribution. Litter decomposition was recorded as the Log difference pre and post burial and percent change for each treatment. Change in mass was compared with ANOVA and Tukey’s means comparison.
Objective 3: Work with growers to quantify the benefits of rotation and cover crops for crop health and disease control in annual crops, with an emphasis on tomatoes.
Obj 3a: Work with growers who are currently utilizing a rotation plan to assess the effects on soil health and disease losses
In collaboration with farm advisors and the grower collaborating with this project, we have identified 4 fields that are infested with FRD; one in Yolo county and 3 in San Joaquin county. At the end of the summer, when the field was nearing harvest, we evaluated 8 100ft transects per field for incidence of plant decline and death. This was then compared to data collected in these fields from previous years and across the growers rotation regime.
Objective 1: Developing avoidance, rotation crop and weed management strategies which minimize losses from soil borne Fusarium noneumartii in annual crops, particularly the highly susceptible keystone annual, processing tomatoes.
Obj 1a: Assess disease development of Fusarium noneumartii in common California winter cash crops to determine highly susceptible crops to avoid planting in infested fields
No crops developed clear canopy symptoms, but there was a low incidence (10-20% of plants) with rot in mustard, cilantro, vetch, carrots, and lettuce. Previous greenhouse studies have shown carrots, cilantro, and lettuce to be clear symptomatic hosts of F. noneumartii which aligned with field observations. Symptomatic tissue was isolated from in the lab but we were not able to recover the F. noneumartii from any crops in the field. This could be that it was too cold for the pathogen to be as active as it usually is in the summer or under greenhouse conditions.
Based on previous greenhouse studies and this project's field studies, carrots, cilantro, and lettuce may be impacted hosts and so it would be advisable to avoid growing these crops in FRD infested fields.
Obj 1b: Evaluate common California winter cash and cover crops for their ability to reduce disease incidence in tomato when compared to chemical fallow:
There was a range in disease response in tomatoes after the different winter rotation treatments. A winter planting of cilantro led to the lowest disease levels in tomato (33% of plants in decline) while a winter planting of wheat or vetch led to the highest (93% of plants in decline). No treatments were significantly different from the control (fallow) but cilantro was significantly different from wheat and vetch (P=0.0288).
Obj 1c: Assess cool season weed hosts, to determine weed management targets.
As part of the cool season rotation trial, we left one 70 ft plot unplanted and untreated to observe what winter weeds grew. Over the winter, we cataloged 6 weed species from 5 different plant families. While we have observed symptoms in summer weeds (such as weeds in the genus Amaranthus and nightshades) and been able to recover F. noneumartii from symptomatic weeds, we did not observe symptoms in these winter weeds. This may have been because the cooler weather is not conducive for fungal infection.
|
Family |
Genus, Species |
Common Name |
|
Boraginaceae |
Amsinckia sp |
Fiddleneck |
|
Brassicaceae |
Raphanus raphanistrum |
Wild Radish |
|
Geraniaceae |
Erodium |
Filarees |
|
Fababcaeae |
Medicago polymorpha |
Burr Clover |
|
Brassicaceae |
Capsella bursa-pastoris |
Shepards Purse |
|
Montiaceae |
Calandrinia menziesii |
Redmaids |
Objective 2: Assessing the effect of common California rotation and cover crops on soil physiochemistry, carbon cycling, and associated decomposition of pathogen-infested litter.
Obj 2a. Characterize soil nutrition and organic matter under different winter cash and cover crops.
Organic matter was measured and compared between soil collected before and after the winter rotation treatments utilizing a loss on ignition assay. All samples decreased in organic matter content over the winter, but certain treatments led to a smaller decrease than others. Mustard cover crop led to the smallest decrease (4.7% reduction in organic matter) while spinach and lettuce lead to the greatest reduction (13.9% and 14.3% reduction respectively). The mustard cover crop led to an immense amount of organic matter as the cover crop reached almost 6ft tall by 4ft wide, all of which was incorporated into the soil and so it would make sense for the organic matter loads to decrease the least. Lettuce and spinach produced relatively little biomass thus the large reduction in biomass observed.
We are still waiting on results from the soil nutritional analysis lab and will update the report when those results come in.
Obj 2c: Measure the decomposition rates of different pathogen-infested crop residues in order to compare the level of organic matter addition, rates of carbon cycling, as well as effects on persistence of infested tissue residing in the soil
Mesh bags containing crop residues from each rotation crop were buried in the field on June 12th, 2024 and dug up across three timepoints (July 12th, August 11th, September 10th 2024). Litter decomposition was calculated as change in mass of each individual bag from the pre-bury weight to the post-bury weight for each timepoint. Different sets of bags were used for each timepoint to avoid digging up and reburying bags which would have altered how the litter decomposed. We were not able to include mustard in the litter decomposition assay as it was incorporated before we could collect plant materials.
Only bags left in the field for the full field season (timepoint 3) had significantly different decomposition rates between crops. Lettuce residues decomposed the most while spinach the least and decomposition rates for these crops were significantly different (Tukey’s p=0.0384).
Objective 3: Work with growers to quantify the benefits of rotation and cover crops for crop health and disease control in annual crops, with an emphasis on tomatoes.
Obj 3a: Work with growers who are currently utilizing a rotation plan to assess the effects on soil health and disease losses
Four grower fields were utilized for this trial; three in San Joaquin county and one in Yolo county belonging to three different growers. These fields have been monitored by our lab since 2019 as part of an ongoing FRD rotation study. Site 1 in Yolo county was planted to corn in 2024 after being planted to tomato in 2023. Sites 2, 3, and 4 in San Joaquin county were all planted to tomato. This was the third year in tomato for sites 2 and 4. Site 3 was planted to safflower in 2023 which, based on previous greenhouse and field trials, has been shown to be a clear host of F. noneumartii. We rated the incidence of plant decline in tomato in 100ft transects at all sites. Site three had a 2 fold increase in decline as compared to the last summer the field was in tomato (from 15% (2021) of plants in decline to 29.4% (2024)). This aligns with previous data that safflower is a poor rotation choice and may increase disease levels. Symptomatic plants were collected from all fields and diagnosed in the lab to confirm the presence of FRD in the field.
Research Outcomes
The processing tomato industry faces many challenges from soil borne pathogens and lacks sustainable practices. Fusarium stem rot and decline (FRD) is an emergent Fusarium soil borne disease of processing tomatoes and has significant impacts in the industry, causing severe plant decline and yield impacts. While some chemical management tools have been studied for this disease, no sustainable integrated tools have been developed to reduce losses in processing tomato. Due to the consistent high value of the crop, processing tomatoes are typically incorporated into a rotation program as the keystone crop, providing growers with an economic boost. There is limited data on what other crops this disease affects and whether certain rotation increases or decreases soil inoculum loads. Results from this project showed promise for utilizing winter cover crops to improve plant and soil health in California processing tomatoes.
Host range studies as part of this project with the primary driver of FRD (F. noneumartii) showed that crops other than tomato (such as cilantro and lettuce, as well as sunflower, safflower, pepper, and potato from previous warm season studies) can be infected and develop symptoms. This means that growers should avoid growing these susceptible crops if they know they have FRD in their field as yield losses may occur. Not all crops are affected (such as spinach and wheat) and so there are alternative crops that can be planted in FRD infested fields.
Winter cash/cover crop rotation trials showed that different rotation treatments had a significant effect on FRD disease development in tomato in the subsequent summer but treatments were not significantly different from a chemical fallow treatment (the baseline) meaning no winter cash/cover crops actively decreased inoculum loads. These results suggest that leaving fields chemical fallowed over the winter (currently the most common practice) will help maintain low inoculum loads in future years. A winter planting of spinach led to the lowest level of disease in tomato while a winter planting of wheat or vetch led to the highest levels of disease (significantly different from spinach). These results suggest that if a grower is going to plant a winter crop, their crop choice is important as some crops may increase disease levels more than others.
As part of the host range studies, we investigated alternate weed hosts of F. noneumartii. Previous studies have shown that summer weeds (such as amaranths and night shade) are susceptible hosts of the pathogen. Over the winter, we cataloged 6 cool season weed species from 5 different plant families. We did not observe any rot symptoms in these weeds. It is possible that, due to the cool weather of winter, the F. noneumartii was less active and thus these weeds were not able to be infected. These results suggest that, while summer weed management is important for this disease, winter weeds are not a target for disease management.
This project also investigated the effect of winter cash/cover crops on soil organic matter. This was accomplished by analyzing the change in soil organic matter directly through a loss on ignition assay and the rate at which crop residues decompose using a litter bag study. Soil organic matter decreased after all treatments, including chemical fallow. Organic matter in plots planted to spinach and lettuce decreased the most (by ~14%) while plots planted to a mustard cover crop decreased the least (by 4.7%). The mustard crop generated the most organic matter (plants were over 6ft tall) and it makes sense that these plots decreased in organic matter the least. Growers who wish to increase their organic matter loads could thus plant mustard or other large leafy cover crops.
Litter bag studies showed that different crops had significantly different decomposition rates. Spinach residues decomposed the most while lettuce residues decomposed the least (and were significantly different). Decomposition rates of all other crops were not significantly different from each other. It is interesting that spinach and lettuce decomposed at such different rates as they are both leafy greens and produce similar residues.
In addition to controlled rotation studies, we also utilized naturally infested grower fields to study rotations in-situ. We utilized four grower fields across two counties in the Sacramento valley. Three of these fields were planted to tomato in 2024 and one was planted to corn. Of these three tomato fields, two had been planted to tomato for multiple years in a row while one was planted to tomato for the first time since 2021 (after a wheat-safflower rotation). Interestingly the two repeat tomato fields had relatively low levels of plant decline associated with FRD (less than 1% of plants evaluated). We would have expected these fields to have high levels of decline as they have been planted to a susceptible host of FRD for multiple years. The field that was in tomato for the first time in 3 years increased in the incidence of plant decline by almost 2 fold (from 15% (2021) of plants in decline to 29.4% (2024)). This increase in plant decline aligns with previous data that safflower is a clear symptomatic host and poor rotation choice for FRD and results from this project that rotating with wheat led to increased disease in tomato.
In conclusion, this project showed that winter cash and cover crop choice is important for Fusarium stem rot and decline and soil health management. Crops other than tomato can be affected by FRD and so growers may experience losses if they plant a susceptible crop (such as cilantro or lettuce). In terms of effect on disease in tomato, planting a winter cash/cover crop instead of leaving a field chemically fallowed does not increase or decrease disease. If a grower is going to plant a winter cash/cover crop, the choice of crop is important as some crops (such as wheat and vetch) can increase disease levels more than others (such as cilantro). In terms of soil health, crop choice had an effect on organic matter loads, leading to less organic matter lost throughout the season.
Education and Outreach
Participation Summary:
Obj 1: Provide crop recommendations in publications distributed via Cooperative Extension blogs, updates to the UC IPM F. noneumartii pest note (in prep), tomato crop rotation recommendation webpage, newsletters, a hard copy trifold pamphlet, and a more detailed hard copy spiral bound booklet.
Once the project is complete, we will write up the results and our recommendations. This report will consist of detailed, quantitative changes to soil health and changes in yield in tomato as related to each winter crop treatment. This report will be sent to our extension collaborators (Brenna Aegerter, Tom Turini) as well as other members of the University of California Extension system. These extension specialists and farm advisors will use their channels of communication and connections to growers and producers to disseminate our reports. The California farm advisors also each have websites and other forms of accessible internet sites for growers to access. These are tailored to each county across the state. We plan to produce fact sheets and articles for these websites and distribute them to the farm advisors. Some potential advisors and their counties are listed below.
1. Brenna Aegerter (San Joaquin county)
2. Scott Stoddard (Merced county)
3. Amber Vinchesi (Colusa county)
4. Tom Turini (Fresno county)
5. Jaspreet Sidhu (Kern county)
6. Patricia Lazicki (Yolo couty)
The farm advisors also undertake grower visits throughout the year where they travel to the different farms across their respective county to answer crop management questions. They will use these opportunities to share our results (via the printed pamphlet) and also have the growers fill out our pre or post project survey (depending on the time of the grower visit).
This project is supported by the California Tomato Research Institute (CTRI) and so they will help us to disseminate our findings. The California Tomato Research Institute connects California processing tomato growers across the state and works to fulfill their needs in an effort to improve the industry. We plan to write and publish updates to the CTRI newsletter. This newsletter is made available to over 150 processing tomato growers across the state. In addition, we will present at their fall/winter Processing Tomato Research conference attended by many growers and stakeholders.
The University of California integrated Pest Management website contains many resources for growers on managing pests and diseases in their fields. There is a specific tab already set up for potential rotation crops that go well with processing tomatoes. We plan to add to this page by recommending crops to rotate with or avoid in relation to F. noneumartii infestation. (https://www2.ipm.ucanr.edu/agriculture/tomato/Crop-Rotation/)
In addition, a Fusarium noneumartii UC IPM pest note is currently underway—we will add crop rotation recommendations to the pest note upon completion of this work.
Besides electronic distribution of our reports, we will also pass out hard copies of our findings. After the winter trial is complete and we have the confirmed host status of the winter cover/cash crops (spring 2024), we plan to compile the list of hosts and non-hosts to be given to growers and stakeholders. We will develop a booklet that separates the crops by hosts and non-hosts. The non-host (i.e. a crop that does not become infect by F. noneumartii) section will describe the benefits to soil health that each non-host cash and cover crop can impart. This information will come from our soil nutrient, infiltration, and organic matter tests. It will also have information on planting times and seed spacing taken from the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources Vegetable Research and Information center. For the host crops, we will provide detailed descriptions of symptom progression and overall effect on the crop host. This will help growers identify possible F. noneumartii infection in their fields. In addition to crops, we will also include a section on weeds that appear to be hosts. This will help growers develop a targeted weed management program to remove host weeds that may increase disease innoculum. Booklets will be printed in waterproof paper and spiral bound so that growers and field hands might take them into the field if they see an issue with their winter crops.
At the end of the project, after the summer 2024 tomatoes have been rated for disease development, we will determine which cash and cover crops decrease or increase disease incidence and severity in subsequent tomato plantings. We will compile this information and produce trifold pamphlet that contain our crop recommendations for decreasing disease in processing tomatoes. It will also contain the benefits to overall soil health and nutrition that these cash and cover crops can impart.
Obj 2: Present a summary of outcomes and recommendations at the winter cooperative extension outreach meeting.
Each winter, the UC Cooperative Extension holds an outreach meeting where researchers can present on current work. The meeting will most likely be held in Woodland CA in January 2024.
At the 2024 meeting, we will present the outcomes of the project. This presentation will include a PowerPoint summarizing the effect of cash and cover crops on soil health and disease development in tomato. We will also detail the effects on the winter crops and weeds themselves and if any appear to act as hosts. A summary recommendation will also be provided via hard copy. After our presentation, we will pass around the post project survey to assess grower planned adoption of a winter cash and cover crop program. The approved Western SARE Survey and Evaluation Tool will be filled out by participants.
We will also use this opportunity to pass out our host/non-host recommendation booklet to those interested.
Obj 3: Present at the Vegetable Crop Disease field day so that stakeholders can see the research in progress, using our research trial as a demonstration plot.
Each summer, our lab hosts an annual field day where we invite growers, farm advisors, and other industry leaders to tour our research fields and discuss what work we are currently doing. This takes place in July at the UC Davis Plant Pathology Experiment Station. The event typically consists of a morning of field tours, taking visitors from field to field and presenting on what is being researched. We then spend the afternoon discussing critical needs and gathering input on our experiments from the industry leaders. This field day is a wonderful opportunity to discuss our projects as well as show what we are working on. At this event, we will utilize our trial (in tomatoes) as a demonstration plot for the effects of different cover crops, as well as weed management, on disease management in tomatoes. We will also provide a summary as part of the field day booklet. The approved Western SARE Survey and Evaluation Tool will be passed out to participants and their responses will be gathered.
We will also use this opportunity to hand out our pre-made winter cash/cover crop booklets to growers and farm advisors.
Obj 1: Provide crop recommendations in publications distributed via Cooperative Extension blogs, updates to the UC IPM F. noneumartii pest note (in prep), tomato crop rotation recommendation webpage, newsletters, a hard copy trifold pamphlet, and a more detailed hard copy spiral bound booklet.
We contributed to the UC IPM pest note on FRD management by adding a section on rotation management and crops affected by FRD. The first draft of this pest note was included in the handout for the Vegetable Crop Disease field day (discussed below) and a final draft will be published online at the UC IPM website. We also contributed to a water proof spiral bound booklet on common soil borne diseases of processing tomatoes. This booklet had two pages on FRD and was printed in both English and Spanish. Booklets were distributed at our field day.
Obj 2: Present a summary of outcomes and recommendations at the winter cooperative extension outreach meeting.
Initial findings and project plans were presented at the California Tomato Research Initiative (CTRI) meeting in late fall of 2023 to a group of growers, farm advisors, and the board of directors of CTRI. Many growers expressed interest in the project and a fruitful discussion of the importance of the results resulted. We also presented at the winter cooperative extension meeting (held January 9th, 2024 in Woodland CA) to a wide range of growers from across that state. This meeting had 139 attendees, 39 of which completed a survey on what subjects were most interesting and which they believed needed research attention. Of all the choices, research into disease management (including for FRD) was a top choice. The PowerPoint from the CE meeting was posted on the Cooperative Extension website managed by the Yolo county farm advisor Patricia Lazicki.
Obj3: Present at the Vegetable Crop Disease field day so that stakeholders can see the research in progress, using our research trial as a demonstration plot.
On August 20th, 2024 we hosted the annual Vegetable Crop Disease field day at our research station near UC Davis. We had roughly 85 attendees consisting of growers, farm advisors, industry/agrotech employees, and grower board members. When attendees arrived, they received a spiral bound handout that summarized the talks of the day and had preliminary results from the field trials. This handout included the FRD pest note described above. The field day ran from 7am to noon, followed by a lunch with a round table discussion on topics of research and extension for processing tomatoes and other annual crops in California. We took all attendees around the field station and presented on developing management tools for FRD while in front of the rotation trial. Attendees were interested in the results of the trial.
