Location: Innovative Fruit Production, Improvement, and Protection
Project Number: 8080-21000-032-030-T
Project Type: Trust Fund Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Dec 1, 2017
End Date: Apr 30, 2021
Objective:
The overall objective of this project is to increase productivity and profitability of strawberry production in controlled environments (e.g. high tunnels and glasshouses) and improve the USDA-developed non-chemical method of arthropod management.
Approach:
Short-day (SD) strawberry transplants will be generated in a commercial strawberry nursery. These plants will be transferred into a table-top growing system established in glasshouses. During the generative and reproductive phases, plants will be treated at four- to five-day intervals using a method of disease control disclosed in USPTO Application No. 14/247,948. Strawberry plants will be grown in a glasshouse at the Appalachian Fruit Research Station in Kearneysville, WV. Strawberry production will be evaluated using a self-contained soil-less, table-top growing system/equipment and fertigated. Treatments will include: a) control (no UV-C), b) UV-C irradiation (exposure time of 15 s, 30 s and 60 s - everyday, every-other night and every third night; day time or night time), and c) miticide. Standard methods will be used to determine mite numbers and the impact of feeding activities on strawberry plant performance.
