ARS News Service
Agricultural Research Service, USDA
Jim De Quattro, phone (301) 344-2756, [email protected]
Tip sheet from ARS for May 2, 1997
Sap Beetle Has a Nematode Nemesis
A newfound species of nematode may be part of the solution to controlling a
familiar and costly corn pest: the sap beetle, Carpophilus lugubris.
Agricultural Research Service scientists discovered the elongated,
threadlike nematode, Psammomermis nitiduesis, living in sap beetles
collected near Illinois cornfields in 1992.
Scientific contact: Patrick F. Dowd is at the USDA-ARS National Center for
Agricultural Utilization Research, 1815 N. University St., Peoria, IL
61604; phone (309) 681-6242, fax (309) 681-6686, e-mail
[email protected].
View Photo in AR magazine: K7588-19, close-up of sap beetle on ripe corn
kernels at http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/sapbeetle0597.htm. Contact ARS
Photo Unit by phone at (301) 344-2958 or e-mail to [email protected].
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Computer Monitors Changing Rust Risk in Wheat
Recent weather has been giving a workout to a computer model that predicts
the severity of leaf rust fungi in this year's Central Great Plains wheat
crop.
The predictions are vital to growers, who must decide in the next few
weeks whether the rust threat is severe enough to justify the costs of
fungicide applications on their crops. Next week, more numbers will be
plugged into the model to assess potential wheat yield losses.
In late March, the computer model--nicknamed "Rusty"--warned of potential
yield losses of up to 30 percent in some fields of susceptible wheat
varieties in Kansas and Oklahoma. The picture changed with early April's
freezing weather that thwarted fungi, but also stunted wheat so much that
many fields may have to be plowed under to make way for other crops.
An article about the computer model appears in the April issue of
Agricultural Research magazine. The article can be viewed on the World
Wide Web at: http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/rusty0597.htm
Scientific contact: Merle G. Eversmeyer, USDA-ARS Plant Science and
Entomology Research Unit, U.S. Grain Marketing and Production Research
Center, Manhattan, Kan., phone (913) 532-6168, fax 532-6167, e-mail
[email protected].
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Model Provides Major Advance in Controlling Water Erosion
A new computer model gives land managers, environmentalists, educators and
policy makers worldwide a powerful tool to help combat water erosion of
cropland, a U.S. Department of Agriculture scientist says.
"WEPP--short for the Water Erosion Prediction Project--represents a major
advance in our ability to evaluate how the different ways we use the land
can affect soil erosion by water," said C. Richard Amerman, national
program leader for soil erosion at USDA's Agricultural Research Service in
Beltsville, Md.
"WEPP provides needed new technology to better assess how much erosion
occurs and how much sediment is deposited on cropland, rangeland and forest
land," said ARS agricultural engineer John M. Laflen, the WEPP project
leader. Now based at the agency's National Soil Tilth Laboratory in Ames,
Iowa, Laflen played a lead role in developing and testing the erosion
prediction technology at the ARS National Soil Erosion Research Laboratory
at West Lafayette, Ind.
The researchers describe the latest stages of WEPP's development and
testing in an article in the April issue of Agricultural Research, ARS'
monthly publication. The story can be viewed on the World Wide Web at:
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/wepp0497.htm
Scientific contact: John Laflen, ARS-USDA National Soil Tilth Laboratory,
2150 Pammel Dr., Ames IA 50011, phone (515) 294-8327; fax 294-8125, e-mail
[email protected].
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Keeping Fuji Apples Fresh
Fuji apples retain flavor and crispness for up to nine months after
harvest, thanks to fruit storage methods developed at the Agricultural
Research Service and now used by the apple industry.
Previously, Fuji apples were only available to consumers during the fall
harvest. No one knew how to keep them fresh for a lengthy market period.
However, over six growing seasons, ARS scientists determined how Fuji
responds to what's called controlled atmosphere (CA) conditions.
CA is a common industry technique used to extend storage life for other
varieties of apples by modifying the concentration of the main gasses
naturally present in air--oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide.
Fuji apple production is rapidly expanding in Washington state. In 1992,
growers there produced about 805,000 boxes of Fujis. By 1995, production
had jumped to nearly 3.5 million boxes.
Scientific contact: James P. Mattheis, USDA-ARS Tree Fruit Research
Laboratory, Wenatchee, Wash., phone (509) 664-2280, fax 664-2287, e-mail
[email protected].
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New Clues on Salmonella
Several new studies cast fresh light on mysteries of Salmonella bacteria's
infection of chickens. They also show that, to protect consumers, egg
producers can test spleens of mice from the poultry house to see if they
harbor a Salmonella type that infects chickens more readily. In one study,
two years of sampling more than 1,000 mice from commercial poultry houses
turned up Salmonella enteritidis in the spleen of nearly one in five.
Salmonella contamination in eggs is rare, but S. enteritidis is the most
common culprit. When consumed by a hen, the bacteria can multiply and
invade organs including the reproductive tract.
The latest studies suggest a molecular approach to discovering
environmental triggers that turn ordinary S. enteritidis into the more
virulent type. This could lead to new tactics for lowering the Salmonella
threat.
Scientific contact: Jean Guard-Petter, ARS Southeast Poultry Research
Laboratory, Athens, Ga., phone (706) 546-3446, fax 546-3161, e-mail
[email protected].
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