Project Overview
Commodities
- Fruits: berries (blueberries)
Practices
- Crop Production: food product quality/safety
- Education and Training: extension, farmer to farmer, networking, on-farm/ranch research, workshop
- Energy: wind power
- Farm Business Management: whole farm planning
- Pest Management: chemical control, prevention, weather monitoring
- Production Systems: general crop production
- Sustainable Communities: sustainability measures
Summary:
Bacterial blight, caused by Pseudomonas syringae, is a serious blueberry disease in Washington. This project assisted Washington growers in studying and controlling the naturally present environmental bacterium that causes bacterial leaf blight, twig blight and stem cankers on blueberry plants.
Standard cultural controls for the prevention and treatment of bacterial blight include frost protection measures (cover, heating/burning, irrigation) and pruning diseased wood out before fall to remove the source of inoculum. Copper Oxychloride was also used to reduce the incidence of bacterial blight.
Local Washington blueberry growers applied these methods prior to the inception of this project, but the response has been less than acceptable.
Project objectives:
To investigate methods of reducing the incidence of bacterial blight infections, two technological advancements will be sought:
1) Develop alternative preventative measures, specifically the use of wind machines, for controlling bacterial blight; and
2) Clarify the roles of contributing factors, i.e. environmental conditions, crop management practices, pests and pest management practices, and blueberry cultivars in the development of bacterial blight.