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Title: A LOW-INPUT APPROACH TO FOLIAR DISEASE MANAGEMENT FOR STAKED FRESH MARKET TOMATOES

Author
item Mills, Douglas
item Coffman, Charles
item Teasdale, John
item EVERTS, K - UNIV OF MD & UNIV OF DE
item Anderson, James

Submitted to: BARC Poster Day
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/25/2000
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: The sustainable program at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center seeks to develop production systems for fresh market vegetables that are less reliant on off-farm inputs. Cultural practices, such as cover crops and compost amendments, that naturally limit foliar disease development could form the foundation of production systems that require less fungicide input. Disease-forecasting models, which use weather data to schedule fungicide application, also could be integrated into these production systems. In the past three seasons, we evaluated foliar disease development in fresh market tomato under different cultural methods and fungicide spray schedules. The cultural methods included bare soil, black polyethylene mulch, a dairy manure compost amendment, and the legume cover crop, hairy vetch. The fungicide treatments included no fungicide, weekly fungicide, and a schedule based on the disease forecasting model, TOMCAST. In hairy vetch, the area under the progress curve value, which quantifies epidemic severity was lower than in bare ground and compost and, in one year, was lower than in black polyethylene. Disease-related defoliation in hairy vetch was lower than in bare ground and compost and, in two years, was lower than in black polyethylene. In one year, marketable yield in bare ground was lower than in the other cultural methods and, in another year, was lower in hairy vetch than in the other cultural methods. Marketable yield and foliar disease suppression were similar for the weekly and TOMCAST spray schedules despite 50%, 50%, and 40% fewer sprays scheduled by TOMCAST in 1997, 1998, and 1999, respectively, compared to the weekly schedule.