Location: Soil, Water & Air Resources Research
Project Number: 5030-21600-001-015-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Sep 15, 2024
End Date: Dec 31, 2026
Objective:
The overall objective of the work is to better understand the potential impact of climate change on specialty crops.
The project will accomplish the overall objective through two sub-objectives:
1) Research will improve scientific understanding of climate change impacts on pumpkin productivity and integrated pest management by subjecting pumpkins to higher temperatures and variable precipitation to simulate 2050 conditions. These will be done during the growing season in 2025 and 2026 and then:
a) Measure insect pest pressure.
b) Assess pollination services.
c) Measuring timing shifts in female flower production.
d) Measure yield for two representative pumpkin cultivars.
2) Information developed from the research will be used to improve available decision information for producer decision support.
Approach:
The study will address how beneficial and pestivorous insects in pumpkin will respond to the changing climate, with a focus on pollinators and squash bugs (Anasa tristis (Hemiptera: Coreidae), the most important insect pest of pumpkin in for Illinois producers. In addition, the study will measure female flower production timing shifts which could have an effect on pollination.
Objective 1: Improve scientific understanding of climate change impacts
The study will be conducted in Savoy, Illinois. The experiment will consist of six 3.5-m diameter plots (three heated and three ambient controls) with two pumpkin cultivars. Six overhead infrared (IR) heating units will be installed in a circular array 1.2 m about the pumpkin canopy to simulate elevated temperatures in 2050 when overnight temperatures are expected to increase more than daytime temperatures from current conditions. Canopy temperature will be continuously measured in each of the experimental ambient condition and heated plots using an infrared radiometer. Female flower production, pollination effectiveness, insect pest populations, disease incidence, and yield will be measured. Documentation of female flower blooming will include the dates of earliest bloom and duration of blooming . Pollination services will be measured by placing a 1m X 1m square frame over the plot and observing bee visits for 5 mins per plot. Yellow sticky traps will be placed in each plot to capture small flying insect pests to assess pest pressure. Five-minute counts in each plot will describe squash bugs at various appropriate times during the growing season. Marketable yield at harvest will be measured.
Objective 2: Improve information for producer decision support
A second goal of the project is to improve the understanding of producer decision making and decision windows, and how weather, climate, and pest issues affect those decisions. The project partners will share research findings to stakeholder groups to collect feedback to inform the development and improvement of pumpkin/specialty crop producer decision-support services. The project team will work with the Midwest Climate Hub and the Midwestern Regional Climate Center to develop web-based climate services based on producer information needs that will be identified through broader producer surveys. Examples of potential climate services include maps and plots of spring freeze timing, variation and changes and intense spring and fall precipitation, the development of a pumpkin-specific drought index and monitoring product, and projections of future changes in climate that are relevant to pumpkin production. Producers around the state will help guide development of the product to ensure it meets their needs and can be used to reduce exposure risk to environmental hazards and pest/disease.
