2011 Annual Report for LS11-244
Taking advantage of pest thrips ecology to increase sustainability of vegetable crop production
Summary
Despite delays in the availability of grant funds, the first field season of this three-year project is underway on schedule. During 2011, research station trials were established at the two locations, the University of Florida North Florida Research and Education Center (Quincy, FL) and the University of Georgia, Coastal Plain Research Center (Tifton, GA). Lupin was planted in the appropriate treatment plots in the fall and allowed to grow over winter. According to the research plans, plots will be prepared for the three cash crops, tomato, pepper and cucumber, to be grown in the spring of 2012 when thrips and tomato spotted wilt are most prevalent. Research will then continue in the oversummer phase with the planting of oversummering cover crops in the appropriate treatment plots or other appropriate conventional management practices for the summer phase.
Objectives/Performance Targets
Objective 1 – Design, implement and demonstrate four different cover crop systems, 1) conventional black plastic mulch; 2) conservation tillage cover crop, with spring cash crops transplanted into overwinter leguminous cover crops; 3) transitional cover crop, with the cash crops planted on black plastic overlaid in a cover system; 4) beneficial insect cover crop system, designed for spatial/temporal enhancement of beneficial insects and the biotic resistance against pest thrips and the spread of TSWV in vegetable crop systems.
Despite delays in the availability of grant funds, the first field season of the project is underway on schedule. Research station trials have been successfully established at the two locations, the University of Florida North Florida Research and Education Center (Quincy, FL) and the University of Georgia, Coastal Plain Research Center (Tifton, GA). Lupin was planted in the appropriate treatment plots in the fall and allowed to grow over winter. According to the research plans, plots will be prepared for the three cash crops, tomato, pepper and cucumber, to be grown in the spring when thrips and tomato spotted wilt are most prevalent.
Accomplishments/Milestones
Milestones Met: Establishment of overwinter cover crop systems (Fall 2011)
Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes
Research is ongoing.
Collaborators:
Assistant Professor
Florida A&M University
Florida A&M University
Rm 306C, S. Perry Paige Bldg
Tallahassee, FL 32307
Office Phone: 8505612924
Associate Professor
University of Florida
Department of Horticultural Sciences
PO Box 110690
Gainesville, FL 32611
Office Phone: 3522734775
Website: http://hos.ufl.edu/faculty/ddtreadwell
1691 Faceville/Attapulgus Road
Bainbridge, GA 39819
Office Phone: 2292430210
Professor
University of Florida
155 Research Rd
North Florida Research and Education Center
Quincy, FL 32351
Office Phone: 8508757100
Professor
University of Florida
155 Research Rd
North Florida Research and Education Center
Quincy, FL 32351
Office Phone: 8508757144
County Extension Agent
University of Florida, Cooperative Extension
2140 W Jefferson St.
Quincy, FL 32351
Office Phone: 8508757255
Lewis Taylor Farms
195 Ty Ty-Omega Rd
Tifton, GA 31793
Office Phone: 2293824454
Associate Professor
University of Georgia
122 S. Entomology Drive
Coastal Plain Experiment Station
Tifton, GA 31794
Office Phone: 2293863199
Website: http://www.ent.uga.edu/personnel/faculty/srinivasan.htm