Making the Case for Disease Prevention in Perfectly Healthy Vineyards

Authors: Baumgartner, Kendra; TRAVADON, RENAUD - University Of California; COOPER, MONICA - University Of California - Cooperative Extension Service; LUBELL, MARK - University Of California; HILLIS, VICKEN - University Of California; KAPLAN, JOHNATHAN - California State University

Submitted to: Entomology Society America Annual Meeting
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/18/2015
Publication Date: 11/18/2015
Citation: Baumgartner, K., Travadon, R., Cooper, M., Lubell, M., Hillis, V., Kaplan, J. 2015. Making the Case for Disease Prevention in Perfectly Healthy Vineyards. Entomology Society America Annual Meeting. 1832.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Diseased vineyards can produce a disproportionately low ratio of yield to ecosystem services or dis-services (habitat loss, poor water quality), and have little to no returns on the capital invested. Minimizing such environmental and economic impacts depends on effective disease prevention, but adopting a preventative practice after the vineyard is already infected may not improve yields. Pest-control advisers, Cooperative Extension farm advisors, and grower groups play important roles in reducing grower uncertainty about the efficacy of and need for preventative practices, which often entail future and unobservable benefits. Here we address the socioeconomic hurdles to grower adoption of preventative practices, in the context of grapevine trunk diseases Botryosphaeria dieback, Esca, Eutypa dieback, and Phomopsis dieback, which significantly limit grape production worldwide and for which curative practices are unavailable. Our surveys of growers and pest-control advisers confirm their awareness of the challenges posed by trunk diseases, reporting widespread disease and reduced yields. In spite of positive perceptions of disease-control efficacy, few growers are putting preventative practices into use in healthy vineyards (before symptoms appear). Similarly, pest-control advisors recommend preventative practices more often in vineyards with high disease incidence. These findings highlight the challenges of effective disease prevention; even when advisers appreciate the importance of a disease they may not effectively recommend preventative practices before infection occurs. These challenges underscore the importance of a clear outreach strategy to advisers, emphasizing both the need for prevention and the long-term economic benefits of adopting preventative practices in young vineyards.