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Funded Project |
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Funding Program:
Regional IPM Competitive Grants - Northeastern |
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Project Title:
Field Testing of Resistant Tomato Lines to Control Late Blight and Early Blight in Conventional and Organic Growing Systems |
Project Directors (PDs):
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Lead State: NY Lead Organization: Cornell University |
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Cooperating State(s):
Pennsylvania |
| Extension Funding: $17,000 |
| Research Funding: $105,364 |
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Start Date: Jun-01-2005 End Date: May-31-2008 |
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Pests Involved: late blight, early blight |
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Site/Commodity: tomatoes |
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Area of Emphasis: resistance, resistant, organic |
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Summary:
Dramatic losses in tomato yields and quality during the past several years have been recorded in the Northeast U.S. Late blight (LB), caused by Phytophthora infestans, and early blight (EB), caused by Alternaria solani and A. tomatophila, are the two most prevalent diseases responsible for these losses. Currently growers must rely upon the extensive use of fungicides to control both diseases. Unless these fungicides are used preventatively, satisfactory control is not obtained. New and more aggressive LB strains have displaced the previous indigenous strains, and these new strains are more difficult to control with fungicide sprays. Repeated use of protectant fungicides and newly introduced strobilurins has lead to loss of effectiveness in the case of protectants, and fungicide resistance in the case of strobilurins, and has made EB control more difficult. Clearly, new alternatives for LB and EB control are long overdue, and we must move forward with new IPM practices in the NE. The goal of this project is to provide immediate relief to Northeastern tomato growers by testing advanced tomato lines developed at Cornell and Penn State with multiple genetic resistance for all known races of late blight and phenotypes of early blight in the NE. This joint research and extension proposal will deploy the resistance into conventional and organic production systems. The objectives are to characterize tomato selections for disease resistance, plant maturity, yield and other desirable horticultural characteristics, while testing them at multi-sites and in two states.
Objectives: The recent creation of tomato inbred lines at Cornell University and Penn State University possessing LB resistance and/or EB resistance created the opportunity to restructure integrated strategies for the control of these important diseases. Objective 1. Identify appropriate LB and EB resistant lines for use in regional trials and possible release. a) The Cornell breeding program has recently created 32 LB and EB resistant breeding lines, which is more than we could include in regional trials. In year one we will select from these fresh market lines for optimal horticultural characteristics for the NE. All of the available lines will be tested for maturity and key horticultural characteristics to allow selection of the best subset of the lines for inclusion in regional testing in years two and three. b) The NY breeding program has an additional 17 processing tomato lines fixed for LB resistance, and selected for EB resistance, but not yet tested to determine whether the EB resistance is fixed. Since this group includes lines with some of the earliest maturities and very good fruit quality, it is highly desirable to perform EB screening on this material in year one to allow inclusion of some of these lines in the regional trials in years two and three. Some of these materials are already ideal candidates for use in organic systems. c) The PSU tomato breeding program has been developing fresh market as well as processing lines with improved EB resistance. All lines have also been selected for early maturity (suitable for NE production), improved fruit quality (in particular high lycopene content), and adaptation to PA conditions. These lines are particularly high yielding under PA conditions, compared with lines developed elsewhere. The collection includes too many lines (~500) to be considered for inclusion in regional trials. This material will be evaluated in year one to identify a subset for regional evaluations in years two and three. d) The PSU tomato breeding program has also identified new sources of LB resistance within L. pimpinellifolium and has developed recombinant inbred lines with strong LB resistance. Currently, introgression of these new sources of LB resistance into fresh market and processing tomato genotypes are underway. In the years two and three of this project we might be able to include some genotypes in regional trials. Objective 2. Test EB and LB resistant lines in regional trials to determine their performance and utility in traditional and organic systems. Regional trials will be run in both NY and PA to determine the utility of the resistant breeding lines developed at CU and PSU. This work will determine which of these lines best fit the needs of NE tomato production, the levels of control provided by these lines, and how best to deploy these lines. To be performed in several counties, with traditional and organic methods, and without the use of fungicides. Objective 3. Release materials and information to enable NE growers to use the new strategy. The information generated by this work will be provided to extension personnel and growers through a variety of channels including publication or articles, and the web site http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/Home.htm, presentations at demonstration days held at the research plots, and at stakeholder meetings in both states. The tomato lines will be released through appropriate channels to promote their use. Proposal USDA CRIS data Progress Report 2006 Progress Report 2007 Final Report |
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