Spudman February 2023 - 9

The traditional disease development triangle, left, and a more thorough assessment for management strategies, right.
with a stick-like piece that turned on its own to collect spores.
These analyses are done with biochemical identification -
polymerase chain reaction, or PCR - testing, which require
more manipulation, more money and more time to deliver
the report. Then, producers can call to get their reports about
1.5 weeks after the sampling or after the media is collected,
Mondor said about tests targeting late blight.
Spore capture technology has been around for decades, but
only recently has the technology moved out of a relatively
exclusive space of research and literature from universities
and organizations and into a farmer's field for a much lower
cost. AIR Spore, in particular, had this technology available,
but it was mostly used in the residential space. Being located
near potato growers on the Atlantic Coast of Canada, the
company was asked if it could detect fungus in a potato field
like they could inside homes.
It was an interesting proposition, and the lab set out to put
together a protocol.
" There's no magical answer and no ultimate tool for what
you need, " said Mondor. " Knowing what you're looking
for, you develop the technology as per the equipment
depending on that need. "
The goal was to develop a measuring gauge in order to
see the level of risk in real time, based on scientific data
and without much paperwork. It had to be practical,
something growers could use right away as an indicator
and then get to work.
With the time that it takes for disease to develop, the
program has become a two-week preventative action,
particularly since symptoms are not always spotted right
away in the field, instead of a corrective measure as with
traditional spore capture.
" We wanted to provide a more preventive approach for
financial imperatives, and also for sustainability, for soil
health, labor and all these things that are related with
spraying, " Mondor said.
Though other programs may vary, AIR's spore capture
program has a Monday, Wednesday, Friday sampling
protocol when plants are roughly about 5-6 inches tall.
The program uses a farm's local lab, and reports are delivered
the same day.
This can change the game of spore capture and disease
prevention because farmers can get a much faster result
that can determine if spray schedules should remain as is.
For example, if a farmer plans to spray on Wednesday, but
the report from Monday determines that there is no need to
spray, sprays can be skipped. The same is true for an increase
in disease risk or pressure - that spray protocol can be
altered to tackle the disease before it has time to worsen.
Farmers can heavily rely on classic weather or degree day
models, but those models don't typically include pathogens
in their equations. They're mostly forecasts, and that serves
as the final piece to a larger farm picture and a more rigorous
analysis, Mondor said.
The sampling equipment fits in what is about the size of
a large suitcase. A tripod holds glass cassettes, and within
those cassettes is a microscope slide with a bit of glue. It's
attached to a pump that operates a suction of about 15 liters
per minute. It's an active device, differing from its industry
counterparts of netting or other passive materials dependent
on the weather.
The spore collection operator goes to the field three times a
week for about 15 minutes each.
It's a turnkey program, said Mondor, complete with a
weather station, which is beneficial for those who don't even
have support from the classic model of spore trapping. The
weather risk indicator pulls its information from published
disease literature, rounding out the report.
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Spudman February 2023

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