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Funded Project |
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Funding Program:
IPM Enhancement Grants |
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Project Title:
Determining effects of cover crop use on pest attraction to tomato |
Project Director (PD):
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Lead State: SC Lead Organization: Clemson University |
| Undesignated Funding: $29,816 |
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Start Date: Mar-01-2018 End Date: Feb-28-2019 |
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Pests Involved: Whitefly, spider mite, Colorado Potato Beetle |
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Site/Commodity: Tomato |
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Area of Emphasis: Soil health, entomology |
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Summary:
Although cover crops are typically adopted for the purpose of managing soil health, they can impact other areas of agricultural management. For instance, cover crops have been shown to alter pest and beneficial arthropod abundance. Natural enemies can benefit from the floral resources or shelter that cover crops provide. Changes in soil health or the microclimate caused by the cover crop can directly alter pest populations. Understanding these effects could allow for improved pest management through selection of a cover crop. The proposed project aims to examine how soil health changes caused by winter cover crop use alter pest preference for a tomato crop grown in the soil. A currently existing multi-year cover crop trial at the Coastal Research and Extension Center (CREC, Charleston, SC) will be leveraged to address this question. Soil will be collected from different winter cover crop treatments in the trial (hairy vetch, Dutch white clover, crimson clove, Austrian winter peas, none). These soils will be used to in a series of laboratory assays comparing the attractiveness of tomato plants grown in the soils to three pests of tomato: twospotted spider mite, whitefly, and Colorado potato beetle. An additional potted-plant study will be conducted in a field to examine the attraction of locally occurring pests to the tomato plants grown in the collected soils. Results from this project will be used as preliminary data for a proposal to the USDA AFRI Foundational program; the full proposal will examine mechanisms for soil health management practices impact the crop ecosystem, including soil microbial diversity, plant health, gene expression, and volatile production, and arthropod behavioral responses. Anticipated impacts of include increased adoption of cover crops, resulting in improved soil health, including decreased erosion. Cover crops that reduce pest pressure could also lead to a decrease in pesticide use, reducing pesticide resistance and increasing the sustainability of agriculture. This project will also lead to a better understanding of the basic biology of soil-plant-herbivore interactions.
Objectives: The goal of this seed grant is to collect preliminary data on how winter cover crop choice impacts pest attraction to tomato plants and leverage that data in communication with growers and granting agencies. The objectives are to: 1. Assess effect of soils managed with cover crops on attraction of whiteflies, spider mites, and Colorado Potato Beetle to tomato plants 2. Present findings to growers at field days and grower meetings |
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Final Report: |
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Outputs •Activity: Field day presentation on semi-field trial and the various impacts of cover crops on insects at Clemson University’s Coastal Research and Education Center’s Field Day •Activity: Invited professional society presentation on results of the project at the Entomological Society of America/Entomological Society of Canada joint annual meeting in a symposium titled, “How Crop Diversification across Space and Time Influences Herbivory” •Observation: In lab trials, Colorado potato beetle and two spotted spider mite did not have a preference between tomato plants grown in soil previous planted with hairy vetch, Dutch white clover, crimson clover, Austrian winter pea, or no cover crop •Observation: Whiteflies preferred plants grown in the hairy vetch and Austrian winter pea soils over the other treatments •Observation: The spider mites had difficulty establishing on the tomato plants after previously being reared on lima bean, resulting in low numbers in that experiment •Observation: In the semi-field trial, thrips preferences for different treatments varied from week to week, but they had a strong preference for plants grown in the “no cover crop” soil over the other treatments •Observation: Once whiteflies were present in the semi-field trial, they were more abundant on sticky cards near the hairy vetch and Austrian winter pea treatments, which is consistent with the laboratory results •Observation: Pests were infrequently found on the tomato plant leaf samples and the sticky cards appeared to be a better measure of abundance of pests in the environment |
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Outcomes •Audience at CREC Field Day indicated that they found the cover crop presentation useful and that the field day overall was a good use of their time and money |
| Report Appendices |
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