Amy Fulcher

Stakeholder Vision of Future Direction and Strategies for Southeastern U.S. Nursery Pest Research and Extension Programming

Extension and research professionals worked with a focus group of 10 nursery owners and managers across a five-state region (Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee) in the southeastern United States to prioritize diverse nursery pests and production issues that are related to container and field production. A second focus group meeting, focused on technology, was followed by a survey that asked nursery growers to prioritize potential inputs and uses of information technology and the features they most valued, for example, that might be included within a nursery-specific mobile device application. The resulting prioritization highlights common challenges faced by growers across the southeastern United States in managing major plant diseases, arthropod pests, and weeds; as well as documenting emerging critical issues of nonpest related production issues, regulatory constraints, and technological needs. The focus group and survey format effectively identified grower needs that will help inform nursery producers and guide university Extension and research professionals, university administrators, industry associations, and state and federal government officials toward efficient resource allocation. These prioritizations explain the current state-of-need across a diverse agricultural industry segment and will help further refine future strategic action plans for nursery integrated pest management (IPM) and emerging critical nursery crop pest issues.

Assessing the integrated pest management practices of southeastern US ornamental nursery operations

BACKGROUND The Southern Nursery Integrated Pest Management (SNIPM) working group surveyed ornamental nursery crop growers in the southeastern United States to determine their pest management practices. Respondents answered questions about monitoring practices for insects, diseases and weeds, prevention techniques, intervention decisions, concerns about IPM and educational opportunities. Survey respondents were categorized into three groups based on IPM knowledge and pest management practices adopted. RESULTS The three groups differed in the use of standardized sampling plans for scouting pests, in monitoring techniques, e.g. sticky cards, phenology and growing degree days, in record-keeping, in the use of spot-spraying and in the number of samples sent to a diagnostic clinic for identification and management recommendation. CONCLUSIONS Stronger emphasis is needed on deliberate scouting techniques and tools to monitor pest populations to provide earlier pest detection and greater flexibility of management options. Most respondents thought that IPM was effective and beneficial for both the environment and employees, but had concerns about the ability of natural enemies to control insect pests, and about the availability and effectiveness of alternatives to chemical controls. Research and field demonstration is needed for selecting appropriate natural enemies for augmentative biological control. Two groups utilized cooperative extension almost exclusively, which would be an avenue for educating those respondents.

Overexpressing the ZmDof1 gene in Populus does not improve growth and nitrogen assimilation under low-nitrogen conditions

Genetic engineering of nitrogen assimilation has received considerable attention for its improvement of nitrogen use efficiency in crops. Overexpression of maize Dof1 (ZmDof1), a plant-specific transcription factor, has been reported to promote nitrogen assimilation and growth under low-nitrogen conditions in transgenic Arabidopsis and rice. The present study explored its application in Populus by overexpressing the ZmDof1 gene. Contrary to the results in Arabidopsis and rice, introduction of the ZmDof1 gene did not improve growth of transgenic Populus under different low-nitrogen conditions both in vitro and in greenhouse. Expressions of genes that are involved in nitrogen assimilation and carbon fixation were not induced in ZmDof1-transgenic Populus. Nitrogen/carbon concentrations and photosynthesis rate were not increased in the ZmDof1-transgenic Populus. The results in transgenic Populus overexpressing the ZmDof1 gene indicated that ZmDof1 did not play an important role in nitrogen assimilation under low nitrogen condition in woody Populus plants as it did in annual Arabidopsis and rice plants.

Experiential Nursery Integrated Pest Management Workshop Series to Enhance Grower Practice Adoption

Three, 2-day hands-on experiential learningworkshopswere presented in three southeastern United States cities in June 2014, by the Southern Nursery Integrated Pest Management (SNIPM) working group. Attendees were provided 4 hours of instruction including hands-on demonstrations in horticultural management, arthropods, plant diseases, and weeds. Participants completed initial surveys for gains in knowledge, skills, and abilities as well as their intentions to adopt various integrated pest management (IPM) practices after the workshop. After 3 years, participants were again surveyed to determine practice adoption. Respondents changed their IPM practice behavior because of attending the workshops. Those returning the survey set aside more time to scout deliberately for pests, plant diseases, and weeds; used a standardized sampling plan when scouting; and adopted more sanitation practices to prevent plant disease. Fewer horticultural management practices were adopted than respondents originally intended. Future emphasis should be placed on using monitoring techniques to estimate pest emergence, for example, traps and pheromone lures, as well as plant phenology and record keeping. However, more work is needed to highlight both the immediate and longterm economic benefits of IPM practice adoption in southeastern U.S. nursery production.

Evaluating a Physiological-based, On-demand Irrigation System for Container-grown Woody Plants with Different Water Requirements

Water scarcity is a growing concern as demand for clean water increases while availability is becoming largely restricted due to regulations, competition with urban and industrial water use, and contamination. Container nursery production is a high input form of agriculture and depends on irrigation because of the small volume of growing substrate and its low water holding capacity. Improving irrigation strategies is critical to managing nutrientand pesticide-laden runoff, mitigating water shortages, and optimizing production schedules. This research evaluates physiology based and sensor driven irrigation scheduling systems for water use and plant growth of container-grown woody plants with different water needs.

Developing an Asynchronous Online Tennessee Master Nursery Producer Program

Asynchronous online extension classes, inwhich content ismade available on demand, can reach a larger audience, offer more scheduling flexibility, and reduce the strain on limited time and financial resources for extension faculty and staff. In comparison with traditional extension programming (in-person presentations) or online synchronous programming (live webinars), asynchronous programs can require significant time and resources during the initial development stages, including advanced planning and dedicated contributors as well as ongoing information technology (IT) infrastructure and maintenance. The objective of this article is to summarize the development process and inputs needed to successfully develop an online asynchronous extension program based on the authors’ experience developing the Tennessee Master Nursery Producer Program (TMNP). The TMNP is a certificate program for nursery growers in Tennessee designed to improve growers’ long-term environmental, economic, and community sustainability. Developing the online TMNP required three key positions: project coordinator, e-learning specialist, and content developer which spent 473, 401, and 847 hours, respectively, during the development process. Detailed information on development time, requirements, and suggestions for other institutions wishing to develop similar programs is offered.

Responses of Three Natural Enemy Species to Contact and Systemic Insecticide Exposures in Confined Assays

Abstract  Chemical pesticides can efficiently control insect pests and are often relied upon by nursery producers. With increased consumer concerns regarding insecticides, growers may choose to limit insecticide applications by incorporating natural enemies into their pest management program. This study assessed the effects of commonly used contact (bifenthrin and carbaryl) and systemic (imidacloprid and dinotefuran) insecticides on adult Chrysoperla rufilabris (Burmeister), adult Hippodamia convergens (Guérin-Méneville), and adult Orius insidiosus (Say) to evaluate their safety for use with natural enemies. Insects were confined in experimental arenas either with leaves sprayed to provide insecticide residues or leaves treated with only water and then air-dried prior to use. Both systemic and contact insecticides caused mortality in all three insect species. The contact insecticide bifenthrin was the least toxic to C. rufilabris, and the systemic insecticide, dinotefuran, was not toxic to H. convergens. The broad-spectrum contact insecticide carbaryl was the most toxic insecticide to both C. rufilabris and H. convergens. All insecticides caused mortality to O. insidiosus with bifenthrin being the most toxic. None of the insecticides chosen in this study were “safe” for all three natural enemy species.