Coordinating a Response to Tomato Bacterial Disease Outbreaks in Ontario

1
Coordinating a Response to Tomato Bacterial
Disease Outbreaks in Ontario

• Janice LeBoeuf
• Vegetable Crop Specialist
• Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food

2
The Ontario Tomato Industry
Processing tomatoes
Area harvested3-year average 2002-2004
3
The Ontario Tomato Industry
Fresh market tomatoes
Area harvested3-year average 2001-2003
4
Issue Bacterial Disease Outbreaks

• Bacterial spot and speck - primarily
• Bacterial canker - scattered, but severe in 2000
  after storms left standing water

5
Impacts to Industry

• light spotting of the foliage vs. almost complete
  defoliation of the plant
• sunscald, poor colour development, rots due to
  early senescence of the foliage and lesions on
  the fruit
• fruit lesions reduce the quality of both fresh
  market and processing fruit (especially serious
  in whole pack or diced product) and interfere
  with peeling
• higher sorting costs on farm and in factory
• increased tare penalties and possibility of not
  meeting contracted tonnage
• lower solids, increased costs, slower factory
  operations, reduced peeled recovery for
  processors
• processors also risk falling short of packing
  goals

6

• Outbreaks usually associated with heavy rain,
  high wind storm events
• Sometimes impacts widespread, sometimes localized
  (2000 vs. 2003)

7

• Bacterial disease is a problem we struggle with
  in tomatoes year after year.
• "Insanity doing the same thing over and over
  again and expecting different results.- Albert
  Einstein
• So, what can we do differently?

8
What were we doing?

• Seed treatment - chlorine or acid - most
  processors - most seed lots - always done right??
• Two to four year crop rotation
• Spray copper in greenhouse or in field when
  symptoms appear
• Some growers using preventative sprays of copper
  - but often just a few applications at long
  intervals
• Adding Bravo with copper as a sticker
• Speck resistant cultivars
• Minimize leaf wetness in greenhouse transplant
  production
• Increase in drip irrigation
• Good drainage
• Burying residue
• Research, extension efforts

9
The TourBacteria-palooza 2003

• Arranged an informal bacterial disease tour with
  researchers, extension, processor agricultural
  staff, crop consultants, Ontario Processing
  Vegetable Growers directors
• Why did the outbreak occur?
• How could we have prevented it?
• How can we prevent future outbreaks?
• What are the critical gaps in our knowledge?

10
Follow-up Meeting

• On the tour, the group requested that I arrange a
  meeting after tomato harvest to discuss the issue
  further
• At the meeting researchers, extension, processor
  agricultural staff, crop consultants, tomato
  breeders, Ontario Tomato Seedling Growers
  Marketing Board rep, Ontario Processing Vegetable
  Growers reps, Pest Diagnostic Clinic (U of G),
  agribusiness
• Dr. Diane Cuppels reviewed what we know about the
  biology of the bacterial spot pathogen
• Dr. Ron Pitblado discussed management strategies
  for tomato bacterial diseases
• Then discussion...

11
What do we need to know to manage these diseases
more effectively?

• Does the Group D bacterial spot overwinter in
  Ontario?
• Is bacterial canker an issue, or mainly spot and
  speck?
• Is the spot population in Ontario developing
  resistance to copper? Is it likely to?
• Are bacteria being introduced on peppers, fresh
  market cultivars, small lots of specialized
  processing cultivars being grown in the same
  transplant greenhouses?
• How can we minimize spread while handling and
  wetting-up the transplants?
• Can properly treated seed still harbour
  bacteria?
• How can we be sure that purchased seed lots have
  been treated?

12
What do we need to know to manage these diseases
more effectively?

• What is the threshold of infected seed required
  to cause an outbreak?
• Is copper effective? Are we using it correctly?
  How is it best used?
• Where did the inoculum come from? Infected seed?
  Infected crop residue? Contaminated greenhouse
  or field equipment? Weed hosts?
• How is it being spread? Infected transplants
  planted in the field? Wind driven rain and mists?
  Processor staff, crop scouts, critters moving
  through fields? Equipment?
• How far can it spread on wind driven rain?
• Do stressful growing conditions increase disease
  infection, spread?

13
What do we need to know to manage these diseases
more effectively?

• Can we test for infected seed, non-symptomatic
  infected transplants reliably and economically?
• How many seeds or transplants do we need to test
  to get meaningful results?
• Is group D more virulent, more destructive?
• Is there a lab in Ontario that will do PCR
  diagnosis on these diseases? Can we test seeds,
  seedlings, plants?
• What are they doing in other tomato-growing
  areas?

???
14
Action Plan

• Use what we know to try to manage bacterial
  disease more effectively
• Agree on priorities for research to answer some
  of our questions
• Focus on three aspects of production seed,
  transplant greenhouse, field

15
Seed
16
OTSGMB

• Recommend transplant growers test questionable
  seed lots for the presence of acid or chlorine
  residue
• discuss at OTSGMB annual meeting
• communicate to transplant growers through OTSGMB
  newsletter
• identify lab(s) that can perform this service to
  OTSGMB members

17
Processors

• Recommend processors test seed lots for bacterial
  disease
• individual processors will test
• one processor rep will ensure protocols in place
  with lab(s) and let other processors know the
  procedure
• processors will share information

18
Transplant Production
19
Transplant Production- OTSGMB

• Recommend fixed copper bactericide starting 2 1/2
  weeks after seeding, then at 5-day intervals
• apply to wet the foliage but not to excessive
  runoff
• if possible, last application should be 1 day
  prior to shipping

20
Transplant Production- Researchers/OPVG/OFPA/OTRI

• Research project to develop a transplant
  screening protocol

21
Transplant Production- OMAF Extension

• Educate field growers about the importance of the
  greenhouse copper program, discussing it with
  their transplant suppliers

22
Field Production
23
Field Production- OMAF Extension

• Recommend field growers apply a copper
  bactericide within 7 days after transplanting
• apply at least 3 applications at 7-day intervals
• Educate growers, industry
• When disease appears, make observations, share
  information

24
Field Production -Researchers/OPVG/OFPA/OTRI

• Research field copper applications to determine
  effectiveness (yield, quality, bacterial
  populations), end point
• Research on overwintering of the bacterial spot
  Group D pathogen
• Continue screening alternatives for bacterial
  disease control, including SAR products, growth
  regulators, conventional chemistries, biological
  controls, improving seed treatments

25
Other Activities

• Meeting programs include lots of bacterial
  disease information
• Discussion groups held with research, extension,
  processor staff, crop consultants, agribusiness,
  chemical company reps
• Newsletter articles and updates about bacterial
  disease management
• Tomato bacterial disease factsheet should be out
  this spring - in-depth look at current knowledge
  in biology and management

26
Other Activities

• Ridgetown College/OMAF staff visited many
  transplant producers in the spring of 2004 to
  test the concentration of copper in their spray
  solution and the amount of copper being deposited
  on the leaves
• Also checked leaves in field for copper residue
• Feedback given immediately so grower could
  correct any problems

27
Other Activities

• Convincing chemical companies to fund research to
  screen products for bacterial activity

28
What has changed? What have we learned?

• All transplant growers trying to follow the new
  recommendations - not perfect, but improved
• Many field growers following the early and
  often copper recommendations - BIG CHANGE!
• More growers mixing mancozeb with early copper
  sprays to get boost in activity

29
What has changed? What have we learned?

• OPVG/OFPA/OTRI increased funding to
  Ecological/Epidemiological Studies of the Highly
  Virulant Group C and D Forms of the Bacterial
  Spot Pathogen (Cuppels, Agriculture and
  Agri-Food Canada) and Pest Management Studies in
  Processing Tomatoes (Pitblado, Ridgetown
  College)
• Research has shown that X. c. pv. v. Group B, C,
  and D strains overwinter under Ontario
  conditions (Cuppels, AAFC)

30
What has changed? What have we learned?

• Progress towards a procedure for detecting and
  quantifying bacterial spot populations on
  transplant seedlings in the greenhouse (Cuppels,
  AAFC)
• Groups A, B, C, and D strains continue to be
  studied presence and persistence on plug plants,
  greenhouse equipment, etc. survival on weeds
  aggressiveness on tomato, pepper susceptibility
  to Kocide Bravo ability to cause lesions on
  fruit (Cuppels, AAFC)

31
What has changed? What have we learned?

• A number of potential bacterial disease control
  products tested, including various copper
  formulations (and range of spray solution pH),
  Agriphage, Chitosan Plus, ionized water, Tanos,
  combinations of Actigard, Bonzi, Sumagic, Apogee,
  Ammonium sulphate, Heads-up, Tilt (Pitblado,
  Ridgetown College)

32
What has changed? What have we learned?

• Pest Diagnostic Lab (University of Guelph) began
  to work closely with Dr. Cuppels to implement a
  commercial PCR diagnostic service for tomato
  bacterial diseases. Lab has been testing
  procedure on seeds, transplants, field plants.
  Protocol is evolving as the lab learns the PCR
  process and as Dr. Cuppels lab develops improved
  procedures.

33
Results

• Record Ontario yield in 2004!!
• But I cant take credit for that.

34
Results

• High level of awareness of bacterial disease
  impacts, management practices
• Industry did not become complacent after a
  successful 2004 season without major outbreaks
• The industry saw the benefits of the improved
  management practices in 2004
• We can probably avert some outbreaks, but some
  may not be preventable with current technology

35
(No Transcript)
36
(No Transcript)
37
IPM Training for Tomato and Pepper Industry

• Janice LeBoeuf
• OMAF Vegetable Crop Specialist
• Ridgetown, ON

38
IPM Training Objectives

• Understand the pests and their impacts
• Identify the pests
• Understand and identify other factors that impact
  crop health
• Up-to-date on new products/ techniques and the
  latest applied research
• Aware of the strengths/limitations of
  products/techniques
• Know where/who to turn to for answers

39
Variety of Methods

• 1-day tomato and pepper IPM training
• 1-day introduction to IPM training can be taken
  ahead of time
• IPM training sessions co-ordinated by our IPM
  Systems Specialist Margaret Appleby
• Summer student crop scouts, agribusiness and
  private crop advisors, growers and farm staff,
  research technicians, processor staff

40
Variety of Methods

• In-field IPM training
• Offer in a couple of locations each season
• Meet at a farm, discuss what we see, have seen
  through the season
• Out of field - may look at samples of problems,
  too
• Informal

41
Variety of Methods

• Tomato and pepper discussion groups
• Informal format
• Topic chosen and special guest experts invited
• Weed management, insect and disease management,
  transplant production
• Pick the brains of the guest experts and each
  other

42
Variety of Methods

• Discussion groups, contd.
• Research, extension, processor staff,
  agribusiness and private crop advisors, chemical
  company representatives, tomato breeders
• Havent invited growers - allows more open
  discussion
• Participants learn from the experts and each
  other. Experts learn a lot from the
  participants, too!
• In-season conference calls - lot of interest, but
  not a lot of participation - busy time

43
Variety of Methods

• Processing Crop Updates - initiated by Elaine
  Roddy a few years ago
• Mine is on tomatoes and peppers
• Sent out by e-mail (and a few faxes)
• Covers all kinds of topics - pest ID, pest
  alerts, herbicide injury symptoms, new products,
  coming events, pest counts, weather summaries
  (OWN), nutrient management, pest control
  information, disorders, new publications,
• approx. 70 on e-mail/fax list, 145 subscribe from
  OMAF web-site

44
Variety of Methods

• IPM Technical Update Meeting for Consultants
  (Margaret Appleby)
• OMAF Publications - Vegetable Production
  Recommendations (Elaine Roddy, Editor)
• HortMatters Newsletter (Hannah Fraser, Donna
  Speranzini, Editors) - agribusiness, consultants
• Veg Viewpoint Newsletter (Elaine Roddy, Editor) -
  growers
• OMAF Web-site - Vegetable index page at
  http//www.gov.on.ca/OMAFRA/english/crops/hort/veg
  etable.html

45
(No Transcript)