From March 31 Cornell Chronicle article by Amanda Garris: Grant will attack late blight outbreaks, from genome to smartphone work.
Cornell researchers lead by William Fry, professor and dean of the university faculty, and associate professor Christine Smart, both in the Department of Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology, were recently awarded $1.5 million as part of a $9 million grant to develop a “unified, interdisciplinary and tech-savvy approach to outpace the pathogen.”
Components of the project, funded by U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture program on global food security, include:
- Breeders will attempt to develop additional resistant varieties as well as track the pathogen and give farmers updates and information.
- Smart will coordinate outreach efforts among the 26 researchers and extension specialists involved in the project, including representatives from 16 institutions on the East and West Coasts, Scotland and Mexico, under the leadership of Howard Judelson of the University of California-Riverside.
- Associate professor Katherine McComas, and professor Geri Gay, both in the Department of Communication, will determine how best to provide information to growers by learning what sources of information are both credible and useful for them. They will also look at consumer perceptions of risks of fungicide treated versus non-sprayed, disease-resistant but genetically modified tomatoes.
- An online Decision Support System developed by Fry will assist growers in day-to-day disease management decisions based on weather and the risk of disease.
- A national network of extension specialists will monitor late blight outbreaks and collect samples for further study.