Greenhouse pest, disease management symposium set for Oct. 1 in Dallas
Texas A&M AgriLife event covers biocontrol, disease-resistant crops and AI pest monitoring tools
Greenhouse and high tunnel growers looking for the latest tools to manage pests and diseases can hear directly from experts at a symposium hosted by Texas A&M AgriLife set for Oct. 1 in Dallas.
The Integrated Pest and Pathogen Management Symposium for Controlled Environment Agriculture will run from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Dallas, 17360 Coit Road.
The one-day program will inform growers, researchers and industry representatives working in greenhouses, high tunnels and other controlled environment systems. Participants will learn strategies for managing pests and diseases in production environments where outbreaks can spread quickly and become costly.
Registration is $50 and is available online at https://tx.ag/PestPathogenManagement.
Three general Texas Department of Agriculture continuing education units will be offered to participants.
Biological control in controlled environment production
Much of the day will focus on reducing reliance on conventional pesticides through biological and cultural controls.
Arash Kheirodin, Ph.D., Texas A&M AgriLife Research controlled environment entomologist and assistant professor, Texas A&M Department of Entomology, Dallas, and Carlos Bográn, Ph.D., director of technical services at BioWorks Inc., will lead several discussions on biological control methods in controlled environment systems.
Plant varieties and disease management
Krishna Bhattarai, Ph.D., AgriLife Research controlled environment plant breeder and assistant professor in the Texas A&M Department of Horticultural Sciences, Dallas, will outline host resistance strategies being developed to combat powdery mildew in lettuce and strawberries, as well as thrips-vectored viruses such as tomato spotted wilt virus in tomatoes.
Kevin Ong, Ph.D., director of the Texas Plant Disease Diagnostics Laboratory and associate department head in the Texas A&M Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, will present a systems-level approach to disease management in nursery and greenhouse production.
Technology and monitoring in the field
The program will also look at how technology is changing the way growers detect and track pest problems.
Speakers and topics will be:
- Azlan Zahid, Ph.D., AgriLife Research controlled environment agriculture engineer and assistant professor in the Texas A&M Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Dallas — use of artificial intelligence and advanced sensor technologies for automated pest detection, tracking and decision support.
- Paulo Cremonez, Ph.D., assistant professor and Extension specialist at Auburn University — field-based pest monitoring network being developed for vegetable and fruit systems.
- Jermaine Perier, Ph.D., assistant professor and Extension entomologist at the Central Mississippi Research and Extension Center, Mississippi State University — scouting techniques and action thresholds for vegetable production.
Additional presenters on the program include post-doctoral researchers Subin Neupane, Ph.D., and Pedro Toledo, Ph.D., and doctoral student Bijaya Sapkota, all in the Texas A&M Department of Entomology.
