Training for agricultural service providers in the diagnosis, visual assessment, and management of plant-parasitic nematodes

Training for agricultural service providers in the diagnosis, visual assessment, and management of plant-parasitic nematodes

Summary

The northern root-knot and lesion nematodes are two primary nematode pathogens of vegetables and small fruit grown in New York, Connecticut, Vermont and the Northeast region, significantly impacting the quantity and quality of marketable yield of these crops. Many growers rely heavily upon chemical nematicides for nematode management, often not considering if the nematode population is at threshold levels to cause economic loss, leading to reduced profitability and farm sustainability. Accordingly, there is a need to manage root-knot and lesion nematodes strictly on an as-needed basis whether by using chemical nematicides and/or biologically based strategies.

Ten to thirteen intensive hands-on training workshops will be held in the Northeast region (NY, CT, VT, PA, ME, NH, MA, VA, and NJ) over two years to educate and train the county extension educators, NRCS, crop consultants, IPM practitioners, interested growers and other agriculture service providers who interact most closely with the vegetable and small fruit producers in the region, in diagnosing nematode damage, conducting and interpreting bioassays for visual nematode infestation assessment and understanding integrated nematode management options. Training the trainers will facilitate the dissemination of information regarding nematode diagnosis, assessment, and management further making it possible for growers to manage nematode problems on an as-needed basis and to design a whole-farm nematode management plan.

Of the 300+ agriculture service providers who participate and are trained in the nematode assessment and management workshops, 125 will incorporate acquired skills and knowledge in their programming and daily communications with growers and 40 will conduct the soil bioassay protocols with interested growers to assess nematode infestations and provide appropriate management recommendations on an as-needed-basis and facilitate farmer-to-farmer outreach.

Objectives/Performance Targets

Through use of intensive discussions and hands-on trainings in NY, CT, and VT and the Northeast region, 300 extension educators, NRCS, crop consultants, interested growers, and other agriculture service providers will be trained in diagnosing nematode damage, conducting the bioassays for visual nematode assessment and understanding the management options available for plant-parasitic nematodes. Of those, 125 will incorporate acquired skills and knowledge in their programming and communications with growers and 40 will conduct the soil bioassays with interested growers to assess nematode infestations and provide appropriate management recommendations on an as-needed-basis.

Accomplishments/Milestones

Since the initiation of this project in July 2007, progress has been made on the first three milestones. The last three milestones will be addressed in late spring 2008 or closer towards the end of the project during the final stages of documenting the impact of this project.

Target beneficiaries attend and participate in one of thirteen nematode management trainings that will be held in NY, VT, and CT. Training sessions are designed to educate 25 people per session, with a new group of participants in each of the ten to twelve workshop locations.

• To date two workshops have been held, one in Albany, NY on 19 September and one in Windsor, CT on 9 October; each with 13 participants. Unfortunately, the workshop scheduled for 10 December in conjunction with the New England Vegetable and Fruit Conference in Manchester, NH had to be cancelled due to low registration. We believe this is not due to disinterest in the workshop but rather a conflict with meeting responsibilities since the workshop audience is predominately extension educators.

  Planning is currently underway to hold a workshop in conjunction with the Mid-Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable Convention in Hershey, PA on January 28, 2008. An informal preliminary survey for interest in the workshop indicates that a minimum of 11 people are interested in attending. We are also in the initial stages of planning workshops in Western New York and Vermont for early spring 2008.

  The breakdown of participants in the workshops thus far is as follows: extension educator (8), university specialist (6), IPM coordinator (4), NRCS/state agency (3), ag company (3) and grower (2).

  The workshop announcements have been advertised via Cooperative Extension email listserves, the NE-IPM coordinators list-serves, newsletters, as well as posted on an array of websites. In a pre-workshop survey, most participants indicated they learned about this opportunity through various email list-serves, newsletters, from colleagues and/or the project leaders.

Evaluation of hands-on training and supplemental materials at end of training.

• Post-workshops surveys have been conducted following both workshops. The overall results indicate a high level of satisfaction with the information presented and the techniques used to transfer the information. One participant even indicated that “this was the best workshop [that he/she had] attended and represents the type of programs [that he/she] would like to see more of.” The usefulness of the information depended on the background and motivation behind the participant’s attendance. As one would expect, not all the information was useful to everyone.

  We have modified and made improvements to our presentations based on the participant feedback received to-date.

Incorporate acquired skills and information into outreach programs and communications with growers.

• On the post-workshop survey, 92% of participants/respondents indicated a strong intention to incorporate the knowledge and skills learned at the workshop into their programming and outreach activities. Some participants indicated that they were interested in using the information and skills acquired at grower meetings while others will use the information in one-on-one discussions with growers.

  Although still early in the project, one participant in the October 3rd workshop has already incorporated the knowledge she learned and some of the resources we provided (powerpoint slides) into a berry grower meeting that she facilitated at the end of November 2007.

Aid growers in sampling soil, conducting bioassays, and interpreting infestation levels to make nematode management decisions with our guidance initially, if needed.

Participate in less formal regional group meetings/conference calls or more one-on-one follow-ups.

Target beneficiaries complete a survey/ evaluation to assess project impact among target beneficiaries and anticipated impact of outreach to small fruit and vegetable producers in NY, CT and VT and the Northeast region.

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

A full-day (7-hour) interactive workshop titled ‘Diagnosis, Visual Assessment and Management of Plant-Parasitic Nematode of Vegetables and Small Fruit in the Northeast’ was developed. The workshop consists of the following sessions divided-up by two breaks and lunch: 1) Introductions, pre-workshop survey, workshop overview, 2) Nematology 101: the biology and ecology of nematodes plus observations through a dissecting scope, 3) Signs and symptoms of nematode damage on various vegetable and small fruit crops grown in the Northeast, 4) Assessing nematode infestation levels: how to soil sample, assess and make nematode management decisions plus hands-on bioassay demonstrations, 5) Nematode Management 101: available options and managing on an as-needed basis and 6) General conclusions, question and answer, assessing project impact and post-workshop survey. A resource binder containing hardcopies of the workshop powerpoint presentations, an array of factsheets on nematode problems on various vegetables and small fruit, protocols on soil sampling and conducting the soil bioassays with lettuce and soybean for root-knot and lesion nematode, respectively was developed and all these resources were also placed on a CD-ROM so participants can use the information is future programming and outreach activities. A soil sampling kit consisting of a small bucket, trowel, pots, pot labels, a marker and lettuce and soybean seed was also compiled and distributed to participants.

Two workshops, attended by a total of 26 participants, were held in Albany, NY on 19 September and in Windsor, CT on 9 Oct 2007. Both workshops were attended by our target audience which includes extension educators, IPM specialists, NRCS, crop consultants, growers as well other ag service personnel. Thus far, post-workshop surveys indicate that the participants rate the content and organization of the workshop very highly and 92% indicated that they will use the knowledge and skills acquired in future programming and outreach. Feedback from these surveys was also used to improve the effectiveness of future workshops as well as to establish a baseline from which to assess future project impacts. Three additional workshops are currently being planned for spring 2008 and the announcements will be distributed in the near future.

Collaborators: