For 2020 and newer grants, please go to https://grants.ipmcenters.org/
Home       Current RFAs       PD User Guide       Projects       Login

Funded Project

Funding Program: Regional IPM Competitive Grants - Northeastern

Project Title: Developing an Integrated Strategy for Corn Flea Beetle and Stewart's Wilt Management in Sweet Corn

Project Directors (PDs): Michael Hoffmann [1] Lydia Stivers-Young [2]

Lead State: NY Lead Organization: Cornell University

Cooperating State(s): Michigan

Research Funding: $80,790

Start Date: Jun-15-2000 End Date: Jun-14-2002

Pests Involved: corn flea beetles, Stewart's wilt disease, bacterial disease

Site/Commodity: sweet corn

Summary: Sweet corn is a vegetable crop of major importance in NY and the northeast. Across the twelve northeastern states, sweet corn is produced on over 137,000 acres by 6800 producers, accounting for 19% of the nation's production and 30% of its producers. Stewart's wilt disease of sweet corn can result in yield and quality losses throughout the region; producers suffered severe losses in New York and other northeastern states in 1999. Sweet corn processors estimate that Stewart's wilt resulted in 15,000 tons in decreased yield of processing sweet corn across the state, with a value of over $1 million. This translates to a $20 loss per acre due to Stewart's wilt over all varieties, and a $58 loss per acre due to Stewart's wilt among susceptible varieties. Individual grower losses were frequently much higher. Additional losses were suffered by fresh market producers. Corn flea beetle and Stewart's wilt control was identified by the NY Vegetable Research Council and the NY Processing Sweet Corn Advisory Committee as its highest research priority for sweet corn in 2000. Stewart's wilt is caused by the bacterial pathogen Erwiniastewartii, first identified in 1895 by F.C. Stewart, a mycologist at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva. The bacterium is vectored by the corn flea beetle Chaetocnema pulicaria, which occurs across much of the eastern US. The disease can cause wilting, stunting, seedling death, and losses in yield and quality. Current IPM recommendations for Stewart's wilt management rely on an integrated approach including plant resistance, timing of planting, scouting, monitoring, use of thresholds, and selective use of insecticides. Producers have encountered several difficulties when trying to follow these recommendations, especially in 1999 under high corn flea beetle populations. Resistant varieties are not always available, plant resistance can fail under early infections, forecasting predictions can be misleading, scouting can be difficult, and systemic and foliar insecticides are not always effective. In this project, we propose to develop tools to help growers better predict and assess potential corn flea beetle infestations, including a more accurate predictive model, an easier sampling technique, and an improved action threshold that takes into account the effects of plant growth stage. We also seek to improve current integrated control strategies, including evaluation of sweet corn varieties for susceptibility to Stewart's wilt under New York conditions, and evaluation of corn flea beetle control strategies. An improved understanding of the biology and distribution of both the vector and the pathogen are essential for refining an effective management strategy. This proposal has been developed in close collaboration with a team of researchers in Michigan. Objectives: 1. Investigate temporal and spatial patterns of corn flea beetle in sweet corn and surrounding habitats, including overwintering habits. 2. Survey alternate plant hosts and symptomless sources of Erwinia stewartii. 3. Refine/validate the predictive model of corn flea beetle overwinter survival. 4. Improve monitoring/sampling methodologies. 5. Refine the treatment threshold for corn flea beetle by considering density of infestation, stage of plant growth and sweet corn variety. 6. Evaluate early season varieties of sweet corn for resistance to Stewart's wilt. 7. Evaluate cultural controls for corn flea beetle control. 8. Disseminate new information developed through research to the fresh market and processing sweet corn industry in the northeastern US. Publication Kuhar, T.P., L.J. Stivers-Young, M.P. Hoffmann, and A.G. Taylor. 2002. Control of corn flea beetle and Stewart's wilt in sweet corn with imidacloprid and thiamethoxam seed treatments. Crop Protection 21(1):25-31.

Close Window

Northeastern IPM Center 340 Tower Road Cornell University Ithaca, NY 14853 NortheastIPM.org		Developed by the Center for IPM © Copyright CIPM 2004-2026