Join Cooperative Extension for an all-afternoon field day event and find out more about the agricultural research and work being done at the Aroostook Research Farm. Several speakers and experts in the field, from both the University of Maine and Syngenta, are scheduled to appear throughout the day (agenda below). Topics of presentations will include potato breeding as well as disease, pest, and nutrient management.
Pesticide credit (3 credits) and CEUs credit (4.5 credits) will be available for the attendance of the field day.
Event sponsored by Syngenta with acknowledgments of University of Maine, University of Maine Cooperative Extension, and the Maine Potato Board.
Registration is Free and is Required by August 12, 2022. Register here: https://extension.umaine.edu/potatoes/field-day/
We will serve lunch (by the University of Maine) and dinner (by Syngenta), and we would like to have a head count, ahead of time, for planning the number of meals that will be served.
Agenda
UMaine Session
Location: The field behind USDA–ARS Building
11 a.m.: Welcome and Experiment Station Updates from Dr. Diane Rowland, Dean of the College of Natural Sciences, Forestry, and Agriculture
11:15 a.m.: Extension Update from Dr. Hannah Carter, Dean of University of Maine Cooperative Extension
11:30 a.m.: Lunch (Provided by University of Maine)
12:15 p.m.: Potato Breeding, Potato Variety Trials, and PVY Susceptibility Studies from Dr. Gregory Porter, School of Food and Agriculture. The potato breeding process, our potato variety trial program, and the characteristics of a few selected promising new potato varieties will be discussed. We will also discuss our breeding progress on developing potato virus Y (PVY) resistant varieties and how we screen for resistance
12:45 p.m.: Integrated Disease Management for Potatoes, Dr. JianJun (Jay) Hao, School of Food and Agriculture. We will demonstrate 1) evaluation of potato variety resistance to pink rot, and 2) an Early blight forecasting system in assisting chemical control.
1:30 p.m.: Integrated Pest Management for Potatoes, Dr. Andrei Alyokhin, School of Biology and Ecology. Preliminary results of the MPB-funded experiment on PVY effects on the quality of processing tubers will be discussed. Efficacy trials of insecticides against the Colorado potato beetle will be presented. These include a newly developed insecticide with a completely novel mode of action based on RNA interference, which is about to become commercially available.
2 p.m.: Nutrient Management for Potatoes, Dr. Bee Khim Chim, University of Maine Cooperative Extension. We will focus on the phosphorus use efficiency in the potato system. We will also look at improving land use efficiency and production by adjusting the potato plant spacing.
2:30 p.m.: Tour plots and Q&A
Syngenta Session
Location: The field behind USDA–ARS Building
3 p.m.: Managing crop establishment with the use of seed treatments and soil fungicides from Dr. Kiran Shetty, Technical Product Lead for potatoes for North America for Syngenta. We will focus on establishing and maintaining a healthy crop and reducing external defects on daughter tubers. The focus will be on controlling fusarium, silver scurf, rhizoctonia, and black dot as well as suppression of verticillium.
3:20 p.m.: Soil and foliar disease control programs focusing on managing pink rot in potatoes from Dr. Kiran Shetty, Technical Product Lead for potatoes for North America for Syngenta.
3:40 p.m.: Integrated solutions to manage foliar diseases of potatoes such as Early Blight, Brown Spot, White mold, Botrytis, and late blight from Dr. Marty Wiglesworth, Agronomy Service Manager for the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast territory for Syngenta. We will look at integrating several fungicides into a program that work in a systemic and translaminar fashion to reduce the number of applications and reduce the amount of Active Ingredient applied to the crop.
4 P.M.: A look at a new insecticide active Ingredient and mode of action that will be introduced in future years to control CPB, wireworms, and leps from Dr. Larissa Smith, the R&D Scientist for the Northeast territory with Syngenta.
4:20 p.m.: Introduce a new post-harvest fungicide for the control of Silver Scurf and Fusarium in stored potatoes. This product, Archive, is in the late stages of the registration process from Samantha Downey, Technical Development Lead for the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast territory for Syngenta.
4:40 p.m.: Brief updates on record keeping and satellite imagery solutions to more efficiently manage pests in a potato crop from Jaime Cummings, Agronomy Service Representative for the Northeast territory for Syngenta.
5 P.M.: Tour Syngenta demonstration experiment trials
5:30 p.m.: Dinner provided and sponsored by Syngenta
6:30 p.m.: Adjourn
Speaker Biographies
Dr. Gregory Porter is a Professor of Crop Ecology and Management in the School of Food and Agriculture at the University of Maine. He is the lead of the University of Maine’s potato breeding and variety development program. He has a major emphasis on selecting improved russet and fry processing varieties; however, his program also develops improved chipping, specialty, and fresh market varieties. Breeding for improved late blight, scab, and disease resistance are top priorities.
Dr. Jianjun (Jay) Hao is an Associate Professor of Plant Pathology in the School of Food and Agriculture at the University of Maine. His research is focused on the epidemiology and management of potato diseases. Major diseases include bacterial soft rot and blackleg (Dickeya and Pectobacterium spp.), common scab (Streptomyces spp.), late blight (Phytophthora infestans), and pink rot (Phytophthora erythroseptica).
Dr. Andrei Alyokhin is a Professor of Applied Entomology in the School of Biology and Ecology at the University of Maine. His research is on the integrated management of pestiferous and beneficial insects.
Dr. Bee Khim Chim is an Assistant Extension Professor at the University of Maine Cooperative Extension. Her research focused on potatoes and small grains nutrient management, crop water management, precision ag, improve soil health, and alternative crops.
Dr. Kiran Shetty is the Technical Product Lead for potatoes for North America for Syngenta. He has a Ph.D. in Plant Sciences from the University of Idaho, an MS in Plant Pathology from the University of Idaho, and a BS in Agronomy from the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore. Kiran has over 30 years of experience in crop protection with a focus on potatoes and crops consulting.
Dr. Marty Wiglesworth is the Agronomy Service Manager for the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast territory for Syngenta. He has a master’s and Ph.D. in Plant Pathology from the University of Kentucky and a BS from Centre College. Wiglesworth has over 30 years of experience in crop protection and crop consulting.
Dr. Larissa Smith is the R&D Scientist for the Northeast territory with Syngenta. She has a Ph.D. in Weed Science from Virginia Tech, an MS in Weed Science from Cornell University, and a BS in Plant Science from Cornell University. Smith has over 20 years of experience in crop protection research.
Samantha Downey is the Technical Development Lead for the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast territory for Syngenta. She has an MS in Crop Science from Washington State University and a BS in Plant Breeding and Genetics from Purdue University. Downey has over 15 years of experience in crop protection.
Jaime Cummings is the Agronomy Service Representative for the Northeast territory for Syngenta. She has an MS in Plant Pathology from Washington State University and a BS in Environmental Forest Biology from SUNY ESF. Cummings has over 15 years of experience in crop protection and crop consulting.
