Anders Huseth

The CleanSEED project aims to develop a research and extension proposal that will address the critical needs of U.S. sweetpotato certified seed programs using stakeholder input to identify priority research areas and build relationships between industry representatives, top research scientists, and clean plant organizations. The project will include a collaborative process that brings together multi-state and multi-institutional teams of biological, physical, and social scientists to promote a trans-disciplinary systems-based approach, create a plan to address USDA priorities, and a plan for disseminating the results. The following SCRI program legislatively mandated focus areas will be addressed: a) Pest and disease management - sweetpotato clean seed is integral to management not only of systemic pathogens such as viruses and soft rot bacteria, but also to soilborne pathogens that infect roots such as the storage roots used for sweetpotato seed; b)Emerging and invasive species - black rot caused by the root and soilborne fungus Ceratocystis fimbriata re-emerged in 2013-14 and was apparently spread to other states on seed roots. GRKN, Meloidogyne enterolobii, was first found in Florida in 2001, then reported in North Carolina in 2011, and was intercepted on sweetpotato seed roots in interstate shipments in 2018. It is an invasive threat that poses a serious problem to vegetable and row crop industries throughout the U.S. and sweetpotato seed roots are an ideal vehicle for its dissemination; c)To improve production efficiency, handling and processing, productivity, and profitability over the long term - common U.S. sweetpotato viruses can reduce yields 25-40%, affect skin color and uniformity of shape. Black rot and GRKN can render sweetpotatoes unmarketable and quarantines for GRKN and sweetpotato weevil restrict efficient movement of sweetpotatoes to various markets; d)Improved monitoring systems for agricultural pests - breeding lines entered into therapy programs are routinely tested for viruses present, improving methods of seed inspection could provide an additional opportunity to detect new or re-emerging problems; e) Effective systems for pre-harvest and postharvest management of quarantine pests - clean seed of sweetpotato is a proven means of managing a long list of pathogens and pests that can infect or infest storage roots, but improved delivery systems and education programs will be needed to take advantage of this opportunity.

A Pipeline of a Resilient Workforce that integrates Advanced Analytics to the Agriculture, Food and Energy Supply Chain

Lorsban has been the cornerstone of soil pest control in sweetpotato and white potato for decades. A recent decision to remove registrations for chlorpyrifos (Lorsban) has left a major gap in pest control plans for sweetpotato in the southern United States. The goal of this project is to build innovative Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programs that alleviate reliance on chlorpyrifos while increasing sustainability of the sweetpotato production system. Objectives will be to 1) build monitoring and modeling capabilities for adult click beetles, and 2) develop innovative strategies to control wireworms in sweetpotato production systems across the eastern coastal plain of the Carolinas and Virginia. Results will help improve management recommendations for multiple states.

This project will develop integrated strategies to address trade barriers for export sweetpotatoes in the United States.

An objective of our project is to identify new pheromone compounds from live unmated pestiferous click beetle females. A second objective is to field screen possible pheromone compounds to determine which chemicals or blends are attractive to pestiferous click beetle species.