Understanding threats to Brassica crops: A case study
Action Plan.
Our Research Goals for the Future.
Goal 1:
Our action plan focuses on increasing the study sites of our monitoring survey, as well as increasing the amount of information available on the connection between black rot disease and herbivory. Studies will continue to take place at The Farm at Sunnyside, as well as on other farms in order to create a larger dataset. This dataset will focus on the ecology of black rot disease, including the susceptibility of certain crops.
Understand the role of groundhogs on farms in the occurrence and spread of black rot among Brassica crops.
Objective: Experimentally evaluate if groundhogs are able to transmit black rot.
In an effort to connect the spread of black rot disease to the presence of groundhogs at The Farm at Sunnyside, future research should include obtaining a license from the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). Acquiring this license will allow researchers to directly experiment a way
The acquisition of the required licensing from the IACUC would permit the physical experimentation required to conclusively determine if groundhogs are capable of spreading the bacteria in question. By taking advantage of the trapping already taking place at Sunnyside, for instance, a sample of fur can be taken from a trapped groundhog and utilized in experiments where bacteria is hypothetically transferred via the groundhog fur from infected plants in the study plot to plants grown in a sterile environment.
Goal 2:
Identify possible factors contributing to black rot preference of specific Brassica crops.
Objective: Determine if black rot prefers specific Brassica varieties over others, so that farm managers may make informed purchasing decisions when introducing new crops to fields.
Further experimentation should be carried out to determine factors that contribute to the susceptibility of various Brassica crops in order to add to the body of knowledge available to farmers and to better understand the impact of herbivory on crops. For instance, determining which crops are naturally resistant, or highly susceptible, to black rot would allow farmers to make informed decisions about the crops they choose to cultivate. The results from these studies, will allow researchers to create a standard measure for herbivory-black rot correlation between various Brassica varieties.
Goal 3:
Understand the ecology of black rot on The Farm at Sunnyside.
Objective: Expand The Farm at Sunnyside Brassica plot observations.
An additional monitoring study should be conducted that expands upon the original monitoring study conducted on The Farm at Sunnyside. The new study will evaluate the health of all Brassica crops in relation to black rot following the protocol established in the original single-plot study.
Focusing on a small-scale area of research allows datasets to be formed demonstrating a variety of trends between the Brassica crops and black rot disease. These trends could include the occurrence and persistence of black rot disease among crops utilized on The Farm at Sunnyside, the effectiveness of specific disease prevention strategies, and the influence of wildlife and pollinator areas within the farm setting.
Understanding black rot ecology on a small scale will help more directly address black rot issues that are negatively impacting individual farms, as is the case with The Farm at Sunnyside. Additionally, the data collected at The Farm at Sunnyside will contribute to a large dataset spanning multiple farms.
Understand the ecology of black rot across multiple farms.
Goal 4:
Objective: Encourage black rot studies across multiple farms.
Additional Brassica monitoring studies will be executed across various farms in the region and beyond. The new studies will follow the general protocol established by the original study conducted at The Farm at Sunnyside, but may be adjusted if needed on a case-by-case basis. In the future, a database should be established to allow researchers and farm managers to contribute individual farm observations and survey information. This database will allow for future analysis of black rot ecological trends.
By expanding the scope of the research to include multiple farms, additional data may be obtained that could illustrate new trends that were not evident in the small-scale, short-term study conducted on The Farm at Sunnyside. Such trends could include the occurrence and persistence of black rot among all varieties of Brassica crops utilized for commercial farming (beyond those implemented at Sunnyside), the importance of wildlife corridors near the crop plots in relation to the spread of the disease, and effectiveness of various black rot management strategies.
Educate farmers on the resources available to prevent black rot occurrence and spread on their farms.
Objective: Create an educational resource and communication platform.
Goal 5:
For farm owners to reduce the impact of black rot on their crops, there must be effective communication transpiring between the farm managers and researchers. Therefore, it would benefit both farmers and researchers to establish a web-based, educational resource where agricultural managers can view the compiled research on effective management practices, as well as contribute their own obstacles and successes with other techniques. One of the many ways this will benefit research is by compiling data from diverse and spatially distant farms that would otherwise remain unstudied. The data gathered from these varied sources would illustrate differences in the impact of black rot on modern practices (e.g., conventional versus organic; large- versus small-scale).
To achieve this, an interactive web site will be designed that focuses on the spread of black rot disease among Brassica crops, potential causes of the spread of the disease, and possible prevention strategies.
