Attract-and-Kill Strategies for Sustainable Striped Cucumber Beetle Management.
This is a Northeast SARE funded project and we're collaborating with entomologists at USDA in Beltsville, MD and University of Vermont to develop behavioral control strategies for striped cucumber beetle (SCB), Acalymma vittatum F. (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) and other cucurbit specialists, using attractive odors, selective feeding stimulants, and the judicious use of bee-safe insecticides.
Cultural & Behavioral Controls for Spotted Wing Drosophila in Blueberry.
This is a Hatch funded project lead by Catherine Coverdale, who is pursuing her Master's degree in Crop Science at UNH. Spotted wing drosophila (SWD) infests ripe or ripening fruit but prefers to lay its eggs in conditions with low light and high humidity. We are investigating the influence of ground cover on environmental conditions and subsequent SWD infestations. We are also evaluating the efficacy of spraying crop sanitizers, which reduces naturally-occurring yeasts on the surface of fruit, making fruit less attractive for egg-laying by SWD.
Optimizing Biological Control in High Tunnels.
This is an USDA-NIFA-SCRI funded project lead by the Dr. Laura Ingwell at Purdue University. This interdisciplinary project will evaluate several aspects of IPM in high tunnel vegetable crops, including the economics of augmentation biological control and evaluating the ecosystem services provided by naturally-occurring biological control agents across temporal and geographic gradients.
Winter production has been our main focus here in New Hampshire and we have been collaborating with the Sideman Lab to develop best practices for winter-grown spinach and what biological control options are viable for winter-time aphid outbreaks.
Developing IPM Tools & Tactics for Winter Cutworm
This is a NH Department of Agriculture, Markets & Food and Hatch funded project.