Enhancing the sustainability of fresh-market snap bean production in the Northeast by identifying and promoting cultivars with tolerance to Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV).

View the project final report

• 2010 annual report
• 2011 annual report

Commodities

• Vegetables: beans

Practices

• Pest Management: genetic resistance

Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) has caused significant economic damage to the yield and quality of snap bean production in New York State, and the Northeast region of the United States since 2001. An effective, efficient, and ecologically sensitive means of attempting to reduce the damage caused by CMV includes the identification, development, and deployment of resistant and/or tolerant cultivars. Unfortunately, resistant cultivars are not currently commercially available. Given the importance of snap bean production to the rural economy of New York State and the Northeast, research and outreach efforts are proposed to identify and promote snap bean cultivars that are capable of maintaining acceptable levels of yield and quality when infected with CMV. The adoption of snap bean cultivars with tolerance to CMV should enhance the returns to fresh-market snap bean production under the virus disease epidemics that have become commonplace throughout the Northeast during the last decade.

1. Characterize symptom expression in response to Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) infection in a diverse collection of snap bean cultivars

2. Conduct field-based evaluation of agronomic characteristics and yield response to CMV infection in a subset of snap bean cultivars with divergent patterns of symptom expression in order to:

-(2a.) Determine the impact of CMV infection on the yield of snap bean cultivars with divergent
patterns of symptom expression.

-(2b.) Identify snap bean cultivars capable of producing acceptable yields and quality when
infected with CMV.

-(2c.) Characterize the relationship between patterns of symptom expression and yield loss.

3. Publish and Disseminate Results