New Disease Severity And Insect Defoliation Training Tool
DR. KIERSTEN WISE AND DR. CARL BRADLEY
PRINCETON, KY.
Crop scouts and field researchers now have a new tool at their disposal to help correctly estimate disease severity and insect defoliation in field crops. The new online tool has been developed by the Crop Protection Network and can be found.
This web tool will help scouts and researchers hone their assessment skills to accurately estimate the amount of a leaf covered by disease lesions and the amount of defoliation caused by insect pests.
Using expert information and interactive activities, the new tool presents several common diseases, along with a corresponding visual trainer and self-practice opportunities for assessing injury caused by each disease.
Other online tools and resources are available from the Crop Protection Network, including national disease loss reports and the ability to obtain continuing education credits for Certified Crop Advisors.
The Crop Protection Network (CPN) is a multi-state and international collaboration of university and provincial Extension specialists, and public and private professionals who provide unbiased, research-based information to farmers and agricultural personnel. The goal of CPN is to communicate relevant information that will help professionals identify and manage field crop diseases and other crop production/protection issues. ∆
DR. KIERSTEN WISE AND DR. CARL BRADLEY: Plant Pathology Extension Specialists, University of Kentucky
Figure 1. The new web tool from the Crop Protection
Network helps to train crop scouts and researchers how to more accurately estimate defoliation and lesion severity on field crops. This screenshot of the web tool shows eyespot lesions covering approximately 20 percent of a corn leaf.
Picture courtesy CPN