Demonstration of the Northeast Weather Association and Blight Alert to Onion Growers in New York State 1997
Project Leaders: Maire Ullrich, John Mishanec, Carol MacNeil, Teresa Rusinek
1. Transfer proven research into practical, broad-based use and demonstrate the effectiveness/impact of Blight Alert on commercial onion farms.
2. Integrate Blight Alert and the Northeast Weather Association into existing onion IPM educational programs.
3. Provide a comparison between Blight Alert and conventional pest management procedures so participating growers can evaluate them.
The 1997 season was the first in which faxes were used to deliver weather and disease forecasting information to the growers. Blight Alert fields required 36% fewer pesticide applications, used 44% less product per acre, and cost $100 less per acre to manage than conventionally managed fields. Harvest evaluations showed no differences between Blight Alert and control fields in onion quality or biomass.