FFY2014 Specialty Crop Block Grant Annual Report Agreement #14
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FFY2014 Specialty Crop Block Grant Annual Report Agreement #14-SCBGP-CO-0007 December 13, 2017 Revised 5/7/2018 Program Contact: Glenda Mostek, Marketing Specialist Phone: (303) 869-9173 E-mail: [email protected] 1 Table of Contents* Colorado Potato Administrative Committee – PVYn Testing Program .....................................3 Pueblo County – Pueblo Chile Promotion ...................................................................................13 Colorado Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association – Outreach and Education ....................25 Colorado State University – Specialty Crops Coordinator Position ..........................................35 Fort Lewis College – Marketing of the Old Fort Market Garden Incubator ...........................41 CDA PMA Fresh Produce Summit International 2016...............................................................70 CDA Colorado Proud – Colorado Proud 2015 Summer Produce Campaign ...........................73 CDA Colorado Pavilion – 2015 PMA Fresh Produce Summit Expo .........................................78 Colorado Wine Industry Development Board – Colorado Grape Growers Guide Update ...............85 Colorado State University – Peach Cytospora ..................................................................................93 Colorado Potato Administrative Committee – Colorado Potatoes into the Mexican Market .........102 Colorado Wine Industry Development Board – Viticultural Consultant ........................................109 CDA Colorado Proud – Colorado Proud 2017 Summer Produce Campaign .................................114 CDA – Dominican Republic Potato Trade Promotion ..................................................................116 Colorado Potato Administrative Committee – Soil Health.............................................................123 Appendix .........................................................................................................................................133 *Reports listed in bold were previously finalized. All other reports are new or updated. 2 Final Report: Development of Potato Virus Y Testing Program Using PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) Testing Project Partner: Colorado Potato Administrative Committee (CPAC) Project Summary The potato industry in Colorado’s San Luis Valley (SLV) has an opportunity to export large volumes of potatoes to Mexico with the opening of the interior of Mexico to fresh potatoes. Because of political reasons, the entire country of Mexico has not been open for potato trade and SLV potato shippers are only allowed to ship to a 26 km region along the Mexico - U.S. border. Potatoes shipped into the 26 km region are still required to meet the phytosanitary requirements. The phytosanitary requirements include zero tolerance for PVYN strains. These PVYN strains did not exist in the SLV as recently as 2009, but have become more established. Why are these strains important? PVY is a virus comprising multiple strains and serotypes that affects many crops, including potatoes. The older, ordinary strain of PVY is known as PVYO. This strain is quite predictable and many cultivars of potatoes currently produced in North America either have resistance to this strain, or have very easily identifiable symptoms. Now, newer strains of the virus have become more commonplace in North America. These strains, PVYNO (a recombinant strain between the old O and the newer N type), PVYWilga, and PVYNTN bring a different set of problems to the table. These problems include: milder mosaic or disease symptoms, causing latent (non-detectable) symptoms, more aggressive disease progression, infection of more cultivars since there is little resistance to these viral strains in most North American cultivars currently grown, greater chance of vector spread, greater translocation of the virus to the tubers, thus more tuber infection, and, most importantly, a high chance for tuber necrosis on many cultivars when infected with the NTN strain. In Europe, where these newer strains of PVY have existed longer, there are numerous problems with tuber necrosis and as a result the inability to raise some of their preferred cultivars due to disease pressure. The presence of this virus is putting great pressure on the potato industry to control the virus, but, at the same time, it is more difficult to do since currently much of the disease screening is done visually in the field looking for mosaic symptoms. The only effective method to really determine how much PVY infection is present in the field and which of the virus strains are infecting the plant is through extensive disease testing using laboratory methods. The PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) testing program project had two goals. The first was to assess and understand the level of disease infection within the San Luis Valley (SLV). The second was to develop a screening tool for PVYN type strains using PCR testing. Our objectives were to test potato fields for Potato Virus YN strains and strains other than PVYO (the ordinary strain of PVY) in order to increase potato export shipments to the interior of Mexico and other export markets. Since PVYN strains are a zero tolerance disease for shipping potatoes to Mexico, PCR testing allowed potato growers to pre-test lots to verify the absence of the PVYN strains to reduce risk and limit shipment rejections at the border. PCR is currently the only appropriate way to verify which strains of PVY are present. The addition of a quantitative, real-time PCR machine at the Colorado State University Potato Certification Testing Laboratory allowed us to address these goals. The second year of the two-year project compared seasonal variation of PVY strain infection during the growing season versus infection at harvest. During the first year of this two-year survey, we 3 primarily concentrated on in-season leaf tissue for sampling. During the second of the two-year survey, we targeted more harvest tubers for assessment of late season virus spread. This second year data complimented the data gathered in the first year by indicating potential late acquired infections that model potential testing by export/import agencies at the time of shipment or receipt. Project Approach A survey of multiple commercial and seed potato lots in the San Luis Valley was conducted in 2015 and 2016 for the presence of PVY and its viral variants: N, O, N:O, N:Wi, and NTN. This project included marketing and promotion for the survey in order to obtain maximum participation. The overall collection of potato plant material came from growers in three formats: leaves during the peak season, summer inspection leaf samples, and tuber samples at harvest. Below is a description of the approach: A. Marketing of RT-PCR testing program for PVY: Two years of PCR testing for the San Luis Valley was promoted through educational meetings, printed/digital materials, social media, and outreach delivered through regular committee meetings, periodicals (CPAC’s newsletter), the Southern Rocky Mountain Agricultural Conference, San Luis Valley Research Center Open House, and direct marketing through telephone, mail, and electronic-mail. This promotion was undertaken by a broad base of collaborators. With the facilitation of Jim Ehrlich, Executive Director of CPAC, participation of the Colorado Certified Potato Growers Association (CCPGA), oversight of Andrew Houser, Potato Certification Service Manager (prior Asst. Manager), and assistance of Kent Sather (prior Potato Certification Service Manager), we promoted the opportunity for commercial and seed growers to receive reduced or no-cost testing at monthly grower meetings (both CPAC and CCPGA), in print, and through personal communications with growers. B. Testing of commercial and seed fields for PVY and PVYN: Due to experienced field inspectors, we were able to reduce our blind random sampling to efficiently target symptomatic leaves, saving on laboratory testing reagents and supplies, which allowed us to conduct more sampling. During year one, we were able to achieve a roughly 50 percent positive detection on the selected samples. However, the efficiency of detecting positives as a ratio in summer leaves increased positive detection (data not shown), though not necessarily strain specificity. The overall objective of gauging the strain types of PVY virus present in the San Luis Valley requires additional research. Season 2015: With the goal of a broad representation of the San Luis Valley, an estimated total of 5,147 acres over four counties were scouted, sampled, and 3,150 samples collected. Though individual lots or growers may be represented amongst multiple sources, fields, or counties, the sum is adjusted for single instances (Table 1, bottom). In total, 40 commercial and 105 certified seed lot samples came from 31 operations growing various generations of 48 different varieties (Table 1), with 14 lots being derived from out-of-state/country sources while 131 lots were planted from Colorado sources (Table 2). 4 Season 2016: With the goal of increasing post-harvest testing, there was an increase to an estimated total of 5,356 acres scouted, sampled over four counties, and 1,256 samples collected. Participation diminished from 2015. There was a significant decrease in total seed lot samples from season 2015, with 71 unique singular seed lots investigated, but an increase to 45 individually independent commercial lots from 24 operations growing various generations of 31 different varieties (Table 1). Twenty-eight lots