Location: Crop Production and Protection
Project Number: 0500-00102-001-055-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Jun 1, 2024
End Date: May 31, 2025
Objective:
The overall goal is to develop predictive tools from standardized and validated datasets to guide grower decisions targeting foliar diseases. To achieve goal, the project is divided into two objectives: 1) Quantify relationships among pathogen inoculum density, disease intensity, and weather variables in small cotton plot trials; and 2) Quantify relationships among pathogen inoculum density, disease intensity, and weather variables in commercial cotton fields.
Approach:
To accomplish objective 1, associations will be quantified among airborne inoculum density, weather variables, and the onset and intensity of cotton foliar diseases will be quantified. Diseases that will be rated include but are not limited to Target spot (Corynespora cassiicola), Areolate mildew (Ramulariopsis gossypii), and Foliar Leaf Spot Complex. Small plots consisting of two commercial cotton varieties will be planted. Treatments consist of untreated and treated plots with fungicide. Trials will be implemented at two locations in Oklahoma. Disease intensity data (incidence and severity) of cotton foliar diseases such as Target spot, Foliar Leaf Spot Complex, and Areolate mildew will be rated at weekly or biweekly intervals in each plot using uniform data collection procedures. Disease data will also be collected for any other diseases that appear in the implemented field plots through the growing season. Cotton growth stage data associated with the disease intensity ratings and any other relevant agronomic field information will also be recorded. Weather variables will be collected at 15-minute intervals from crop planting to harvest using data from automated stations located at the two research stations. To quantify the presence and density of airborne inoculum of pathogens in the trials, Rotorod- type spore traps will be deployed just outside the plot area. Spore trap samples will be collected weekly from mid-June to mid-October (16 weeks) and sent to a cooperator. To accomplish objective 2, six commercial cotton fields will be selected at the beginning of the growing season in Oklahoma. The cotton commercial fields selected for this study will be adjacent to the university research stations, where the small plots will be implemented to facilitate data collection. Disease intensity data, airborne inoculum, weather data, and other relevant agronomic information from the selected commercial fields will be recorded as described in Objective 1. For both objectives, data collected will be subjected to statistical analysis, correlation analysis, and linear logistic regression, which will be used to develop preliminary risk assessment models.
