Project Overview

View the project final report

• 2004 annual report

Commodities

• Agronomic: oats, potatoes

• Vegetables: broccoli, cauliflower, eggplant

• Additional Plants: herbs

Practices

• Crop Production: fallow, intercropping

• Education and Training: demonstration, extension, farmer to farmer, focus group, networking, on-farm/ranch research, participatory research

• Pest Management: cultural control, economic threshold, field monitoring/scouting, genetic resistance, integrated pest management, traps

• Production Systems: agroecosystems

Tools for the management of garden symphylans were improved through the development of crop rotation tactics to decrease populations and refine sampling methods. Cultivation of potatoes was found to lead to a 2- to 4-fold reduction in pest populations over a broad range of conditions, with populations remaining low into the following cropping cycle. In greenhouse trials, population decreases were observed in 6 potato varieties with different alkaloid profiles. This effect was not observed with any other crops. Sampling methodology studies facilitated the development of guidelines for the efficient and reliable use of the potato baiting method.

The overall objective of this work was to improve the management of GS with improved crop rotation tactics and sampling methods.

Specific objectives were:
Objective 1 (crop rotation experiments) Evaluate the effect of a weed-free potato cropping system and a potato cropping system with a planted weed host (of GS) on GS populations and the subsequent growth of broccoli (a highly susceptible crop) in the field

Objective 2 (plant screening) Screen additional crops for activity against GS

Objective 3 (sampling experiments) Further develop the bait sampling method so it may be used effectively by growers, researchers and agribusiness

Objective 4 (damage curve development) Improve ability to interpret GS population density estimates for management purposes by developing a damage curve and action thresholds for a highly susceptible crop

Objective 5 (information dissemination) Disseminate information about biology, ecology and management of GS to a broad audience, including conventional and organic growers, extension agents and agribusiness