Location: Temperate Tree Fruit and Vegetable Research
Project Number: 2092-22430-003-059-T
Project Type: Trust Fund Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Apr 1, 2024
End Date: Mar 30, 2025
Objective:
1. Evaluate the effectiveness of Direct Plant Infusion as a delivery system for insecticides targeting foliar-feeding and sap-sucking insects, with a specific focus on leafhopper vectors including C. reductus and C. geminatus.
2. Investigate the mobility of therapeutic compounds delivered through Direct Plant Infusion, assessing their ability to reach and protect leaves against hemipteran sucking insects.
3. Measure the residual activity of injected insecticides, aiming to establish a prolonged protective window against targeted pests while minimizing the need for frequent reapplications.
Future work will focus on environmental impact of trunk injection with traditional foliar and soil-drench methods, highlighting the advantages of targeted delivery and reduced pesticide exposure.
Approach:
Greenhouse studies will be used to investigate the effectiveness of direct plant infusion as a delivery system for insecticides and therapeutic compounds to cure cherry trees of cherry x-disease.
