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ARS Home » Crop Production and Protection » Research » Research Project #438258

Research Project: Establishing the Infrastructure to Develop Prediction Tools for Diseases & Mycotoxins Affecting Corn & Cotton to Better Inform Mgmt Decisions (U.MO)

Location: Crop Production and Protection

Project Number: 0500-00102-001-012-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Jun 19, 2020
End Date: Jun 18, 2024

Objective:
Develop predictive modeling tools for Northern corn leaf blight (NCLB) and gray leaf spot (GLS) of corn. The first objective is to establish the association between inoculum intensity, disease development and weather in small plot trials for gray leaf spot and northern corn leaf blight of corn. The second objective is to establish the association between initial inoculum, disease development and weather in commercial corn fields for gray leaf spot and northern corn leaf blight. For cotton, the objective is to establish the association between initial inoculum, disease development and weather in sentinel plots to build and validate pathogen models. FY22 Additional Funding: CORN - the goal of this project is to develop and validate disease and mycotoxin prediction tools to maximize the efficacy of management decisions and consequently reduce yield losses in corn. The following objectives will be done to achieve this goal: Objective 1. Establish the association between inoculum intensity, disease development and weather in (a) experimental plot trials, and (b) commercial fields; Objective 2. Compare pathogen population levels detected by different spore trap technologies; and Objective 3. Disseminate corn disease information and management techniques through various outputs. COTTON - the overall project goal is to develop predictive tools from standardized and validated datasets to guide grower decisions, targeting foliar and seedling diseases. Project objectives are: 1. Collect weather data using subscriptions from measur.io; 2. Collect crop information (planting date, planting rate, management data, etc.); 3. Collect foliar disease data - incidence and severity of target spot, leaf spot complex, and areolate/Ramularia mildew; 4. Collect inoculum potential on a weekly to bi-weekly basis using air samplers; and 5. All data collected will be used to develop a predictive tool for cotton disease management.

Approach:
For the work related to corn, the cooperators lab at University of Missouri will participate as one state in a multi-state effort of applied field trials and disease monitoring to contribute to the long-term goal of developing disease risk assessment models for corn. Specific objectives that the cooperator will conduct will include: 1. establish the association between inoculum intensity, disease development and weather and 2. collect disease and weather data to validate existing models. Small plot experiments described in Objective 1 will be established at Bradford Research Farm (near Columbia, MO) and Greenley Research Farm (near Novelty, MO). Additionally, I will work with Regional Extension experts and Missouri Corn to select 25 fields to complete the experiments described in Objective 2. The small plot work described will be executed primarily by two Research Specialists (as supervised by Cooperator's PI) who will maintain the research plots, rate gray leaf spot and northern corn leaf blight, collect, process and/or ship spore sampler collections, and follow all protocols detailed in the proposal. In addition to the experiments conducted at the University of Missouri, the data collected will be used to work with PIs in the other six participating states to organize, process, mine, and analyze weather, disease, and spore density data to quantity associations among measured responses, and eventually (likely in year 2), test and validate GLS risk assessment models. For the work related to cotton, the Bissonnett lab at the University of Missouri will conduct an experiment as outlined under the overall objective to establish a SENTINEL PLOT with active and passive sampling of air borne spores to build and validate pathogen models of the project. The field experiment in this objective well be established at the Fisher Delta Research Center (near Portageville, MO). I will supervise and work along with the Graduate Students assigned to the project to collect, ship and/or process plant tissue and aerosol samples, quantify target spot and other pathogens that infest the sites, and monitor cotton growth and weather conditions following the protocols detailed in the proposal. A Graduate Student and the PI will work with co-PIs in the other cotton participating states to organize, process, mine, and analyze weather, disease, and spore density data to quantity associations among measured responses, and eventually test and validate various risk assessment models.