Precision irrigation and nutrient management for nursery, greenhouse and green roof systems: Wireless sensor networks for feedback and feedforward control.
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Reducing production costs and improving wine quality through root zone management
USDA-AMS Fruit and Vegetable Programs Specialty Crop Block Grant Program project to:
- Determine the impact of three annual cover crops (annual rye grass, buckwheat, rosette-forming turnips) planted directly under the vine on production costs, vine size, and wine quality.
- Determine the impact of root pruning on production costs, vine size, and wine quality.
- Disseminate the results to local growers so that at project end at least five New York wine grape growers experiment with one of the root zone management practices
Employing foliar endophytes as biocontrol agents
Foliar fungal endophytes are microscopic fungi present in all plant species. These organisms can reduce pest feeding on plant hosts through the production of unpalatable chemicals. Endophyte-host effects have led to the employment of fungal endophytes as biocontrols in grasses by successfully reducing pest loads while increasing host growth.
However, utilization of endophytes in woody plants is in the nascent stages. Research is needed to identify which endophytes are present and how they reduce pest damage on important ornamental and horticultural plants.
Our research is foundational for the effective use of fungal endophytes in integrated pest management.This research will produce data integral to the application of foliar endophytes as IPM agents by identifying exactly which endophytes are present and which show potential for IPM applications. The number of practitioners adopting endophytes as biological control agents is potentially industry-wide due to the ubiquity of symbionts and their successful application in other agronomic systems across a wide geographic range. We need only look to the use of mycorrhizal and rhizobial symbionts to imagine where foliar endophytes will take us in terms of integrated biological approaches.