Skip to main content
ARS Home » Southeast Area » Fort Pierce, Florida » U.S. Horticultural Research Laboratory » Subtropical Plant Pathology Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #392315
Research Project: Mitigating High Consequence Domestic, Exotic, and Emerging Diseases of Fruits, Vegetables, and Ornamentals

Location: Subtropical Plant Pathology Research

Title: Epidemiology, Biology and Management of Whitefly-transmitted Viruses: Neighborhood pest management of whitefly-transmitted viruses

Author
item Turechek, William

Submitted to: APS Net Plant Pathology Online
Publication Type: Other
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/21/2022
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1094/GROW-CUC-02-22-007

Interpretive Summary: Over the last 25 years, the number of whitefly-transmitted viruses affecting vegetable production in Florida and the southeastern United States has steadily increased. The rise in average winter temperatures across the Southeast, the development of widespread resistance to broad-spectrum insecticides, and the absence of new varieties with resistance to the multitude of new viruses have collectively contributed to this increase. Current management strategies are having difficulty keeping pace with the evolving threat. This presentation was created for pest and disease managers and in it I discuss the rationale for developing a neighborhood pest management strategy for controlling whiteflies and whitefly-transmitted viruses.

Technical Abstract: Over the last 25 years, the number of whitefly-transmitted viruses affecting vegetable production in Florida and the southeastern United States has steadily increased. The rise in average winter temperatures across the Southeast, the development of widespread resistance to broad-spectrum insecticides, and the absence of new varieties with resistance to the multitude of new viruses have collectively contributed to this increase. Current management strategies are having difficulty keeping pace with the evolving threat. This presentation discusses the rationale for developing a neighborhood pest management (NPM) strategy for controlling whiteflies and whitefly-transmitted viruses. Pest and disease managers will learn how extreme weather events and the distance between fields influence whitefly populations and the development of viral epidemics. Managers will gain insight into how this and other information can be processed for dissemination and how to define “neighborhoods” for establishing NPM programs.