Stop the Rot Halftime Report
News From the Stop the Rot Project on Onion Bacterial Diseases By Heather MacKay and Lindsey du Toit, Washington State University; and Christy Hoepting, Cornell Cooperative Extension Vegetable Program
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ield trials across multiple states in the first two years of the four-year Stop the Rot project have investigated the impacts of irrigation practices, fertility practices, cultural practices, bactericides and postharvest disinfectant applications on development of onion bacterial diseases. These trials have evaluated practices and products currently used by onion growers so that we can address stakeholder priorities and concerns about bacterial diseases of onion. Valuable results with immediate potential application have been published. The results can be found in the reports shared on our website at www.alliumnet.com/stop-the-rotpublications-and-resources. These early results demonstrate the importance of moisture in the crop over the growing season as a major influence on bacterial diseases of onion and will be a fruitful area of focus for field trials in years three and four of the project. Trials in Georgia, New York and Washington state that are evaluating modifications to cultural practices such as the timing of topping and undercutting, neck length after topping,
methods of harvest, and postharvest curing practices also show a lot of potential for reducing losses to bacterial rots of onion bulbs.
Alliumnet Website Gets Fresh Look, New Content
Alliumnet is a collaborative website focused on supporting the production of Allium species in the United States. The Alliumnet website was created over 10 years ago under the leadership of Dr. Howard Schwartz at Colorado State University before he retired. The website has been maintained over the long term to provide a home for national onion research collaborations (including USDA projects), information and proceedings associated with the National Allium Research Conference, links to onion industry meetings and events, and reports, activities and meeting details for the W-1008, W-2008 and W-3008 multistate onion projects. The website was redesigned and updated significantly over the past year based on input from a User Reference group established within the SCRI Stop the Rot research project. The revised website is now live and contains information on the latest research, resources for diagnosing diseases and other onion problems, links to regional extension resources, grower associations’ notices about upcoming scientific meetings and archives of prior research meetings. Please send your comments and suggestions on the layout and content to webmaster@bugwood.org. The Alliumnet.com website is developed, maintained and hosted by the Southern IPM Center and the Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health at the University of Georgia. Authors’ note: Stop the Rot is a four-year, multistate project funded by the Specialty Crops Research Initiative (SCRI) of the USDA National Institute for Food and Agriculture as Project No. 2019-51181-30013. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Learn More About Stop the Rot •Read the most recent reports, extension bulletins and scientific articles on the Resources page of our website at www.alliumnet.com/stop-therot-publications-and-resources. •Find more information about the project at www.alliumnet.com/stop-the-rot. •Watch videos developed by project members on YouTube. •Email stoptherot.project@gmail.com to be added to the mailing list for project updates and information. 16
Onion World • March / April 2022