Northeast IPM 1997 Grants Program: Funded Projects

Project Title:

Quantifying infection probability to improve integrated management of apple scab

*Award shown is total amount to be used over the course of the project term.

Objectives

The objective of this project is to help develop strategies that will reduce the use of chemical pesticides in the control of apple scab. I will develop a model for making quantitative estimates of the probability of scab infection from inoculum originating both inside and outside an orchard. The research will focus on the aerial dispersal of ascospores of Ventura inaequalis (Cke.) G. Wint. As part of this project, I will:

1) quantify the role of ground cover in reducing the airborne fraction of potential inoculum dose, especially late in the primary scab season.

2) develop a quantitative relationship between aerial concentration of ascospores in an orchard and the probability of scab infection, and

3) develop a mathematical model to integrate these findings into a set of decision rules for defining risk of scab infection.

This research will contribute to IPM in the Northeast by helping to integrate practices which reduce inoculum, such as sanitation and mulch-mowing, into scab management programs, and by developing models to predict occurrence and abundance of scab for the purpose of making sound decisions about fungicide use. This work is complementary to other projects in the Northeast, and the model framework will be developed to readily accommodate information on degree of susceptibility to scab of various apple cultivars.

Links

1997 Northeast IPM Funded Projects directory page

Northeast IPM Home

Connecticut IPM Program

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) : What Is It?

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About this Page

1997 NE IPM Funded Grant 97-01

loaded March 28, 1997

This page is sponsored by the Cooperative Extension and Land Grant University IPM programs of the Northeast (Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and West Virginia) and by the United States Department of Agriculture.

Developed and managed by James R. VanKirk, Facilitator for Northeast IPM Activities.

Technical management: Cheryl TenEyck, NY IPM Program
Design assistance: Karen English-Loeb, NY IPM Program