October 2020 - 8

Grant supports research into grape downy mildew
By Erin Rodger
Cornell University
The climate in New York state is ideal
for cultivating many grape varieties but
also makes the region a breeding ground
for pathogens such as grape downy
mildew disease.
While pesticides are commonly
used to help control it, the pathogen
is beginning to develop resistance to a
group of fungicides commonly used in
East Coast vineyards.
A new project led by Kaitlin (Katie)
Gold, assistant professor of plant
pathology and plant microbebiology
at Cornell AgriTech, may help
mitigate this issue of emerging resistance.
The project, " Advancing Downy
Mildew Resistance Management
for New York Grape Growers, " was
recently awarded a $100,000 USDA
Specialty Crop Block Grant. Gold will
collaborate with Hans Walter Peterson,
viticulture extension specialist for
Cornell Cooperative Extension, and Tim
Miles, assistant professor and Extension
specialist at Michigan State University.
Their goal is to develop management
strategies for grape downy mildew
fungicide resistance.
Caused by the fungus Plasmopara
viticola, grape downy mildew (GDM)
is one of the most devastating grape
diseases in New York state. Grape
clusters are highly susceptible after the
vines finish blooming, and late-season
infections can defoliate vines right when
the berries are trying to ripen. This
damages maturation, winter hardiness
and eventually crop return.
In 2018, the first known occurrence in
North America of the disease's resistance
to carboxylic acid amide (CAA)
fungicides was documented in Virginia
and North Carolina.
" Right now, CAA fungicides are one
of the most widely used tools in the fight
against GDM in New York, and the grape
industry simply can't rely on this
stand-alone strategy, " Gold said. " If we
can develop additional management
strategies as CAA resistance continues to
emerge, we'll be better able to safeguard
our state's grape industry. "
This summer, Gold started surveying
vineyards in the Finger Lakes region
to determine the prevalence of grape
downy mildew. As the project continues,
Kaitlin Gold, assistant professor of plant pathology and plant microbe-biology at Cornell AgriTech, operates hyperspectral sensor
technology in a vineyard. Gold received a $100,000 grant to study grape downy mildew, a deadly pathogen. Photos: Kaitlin Gold
the team will test a variety of non-CAA
fungicides and then create Extension
materials for grape growers about
managing CAA resistance.
Current methods for detecting
fungicide resistance require growers
to take grapes off the vine and test
them in a laboratory setting, which is
time-consuming and destructive. The
long-term objective for Gold's project
is to test whether hyperspectral sensors
can detect fungicide resistance right
from the vineyard while keeping grapes
on the vine.
The hyperspectral sensors Gold will
use measure light reflectance in the
visible to shortwave infrared range of
the electromagnetic spectrum - a range
of light seven times larger than the
human eye can see. These wavelengths
of light interact with the chemical
bonds and tissues that downy mildew
impacts, directly and indirectly, during
plant infection.
At the early stages of infection, before
the leaf gets too diseased, these sensors can
detect subtle differences in light reflectance
Grape downy mildew is visible on the surface of a grape leaf.
linked to pathogen properties. In theory,
Gold could use the sensors to look at
a fungal isolate inside the leaf and see
differences in the leaf spectral profile that
could indicate how sensitive that particular
strain of downy mildew is to fungicides.
If this theory holds, then she will
evaluate whether this process could be
scaled up to passive monitoring, rather
than through active sampling.
" Ultimately, if both these things are
true, this means that sensors could
make finding resistant downy mildew a
whole lot easier for growers, " she said.
" The findings from this project will
immediately improve downy mildew
resistance detection, mitigation and
management for New York growers,
while driving forward the basic science
needed to make long-term advances in
plant disease sensing that could help them
make better management decisions. " FGN
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July 2019 | Volume 53 |
Issue 7
Joyce Van Eck of the Boyce Thompson Institute is researching ways to make ground cherries and goldenberries easier to grow commercially. Photo: Mike Carroll/Boyce Thompson Institute
By Stephen Kloosterman
Associate Editor
Talking to researchers and companies
about their genetically-engineered projects
for specialty crops is a little bit like a trip to
a grower's dream world.
Imagine ground cherries that stay on the
plant until harvest, potatoes that are more
nutritious and disease-resistant, apples that
genetically dodge browning aſter slicing,
industrial hemp varieties fine-tuned for
growers and microbes that help protect
crops from diseases and pests.
These projects are in various stages of
completion - and their place in the market
in some cases hasn't yet been determined.
Public attitudes - and those of growers
- on genetically modified organisms
(GMOs) and organisms engineered with
next-generation technologies are not yet
universally accepted.
Genetically-engineered specialty crops
will find a niche of some kind in future
markets. Researchers and industry leaders
say it's up to growers and consumers to
decide how they're used.
Grower confidence
The amount of confidence growers put
in genome editing varies widely. Joyce
Van Eck of the Boyce Thompson Institute
at Cornell University is overjoyed to
have a few organic
growers open to
accepting
disease-resistant
plants from her
genetics research,
which includes
CRISPR-edited potatoes, goldenberries
and ground cherries.
High-Tech Tools
2019
See GENETICS, page 5
Survey: U-pick strawberries take top dollar
By Stephen Kloosterman
Associate Editor
Pick your price.
Farm marketers across the country
this spring again participated in a
Vegetable Growers News survey of
what they charge for commodities and
food items.
More than 180 marketers from 34
states voted multiple-choice-style,
picking the price in the survey that was
closest to the price at their market.
For an example of how this works,
take that standby of summer, U-pick
strawberries.
Fiſty-four percent of marketers chose
$3 per pound, the highest price reported
by participants last year for that
category. Strawberries must be selling
well - there were only the few items in
the survey where the high price got the
most votes.
Search through the chart on Page 7
to compare notes with your colleagues
across the country.
The product, the process and the
region's clientele all play a role in
pricing. An organic, pick-your-own
SweeTango apple will sell for more
in the suburbs of New York City
than a bagged Granny Smith will in
Wenatchee, Washington. That's why, this
year, again VGN asked people how they
went about picking their prices.
Making markup
For most farm market managers,
prices are the product of much looking
about: Checking out competing
See MARKETS, page 6

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October 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of October 2020