Reducing insecticide use in cucurbits through in-furrow seed specific application

1. Reducing insecticide use in cucurbits through in-furrow seed specific application Jim Jasinski1, Matt Darr2, Reza Ehsani2, Erdal Ozkan2, Matt Sullivan2, Bob Precheur3 1 IPM Program, 2 Food, Agriculture, and Biological Engineering, 3 Horticulture & Crop Science

2. Objectives To design a precision in-furrow insecticide applicator. To determine the accuracy of the precision applicator at speeds of 1.4, 2, and 2.8 miles per hour with cucumber, zucchini, and pumpkin seed 3. To test the efficacy of the precision applicator using bioassays with striped cucumber beetles.

3. Background Over 6,000 A of pumpkin, zucchini, and cucumbers grown in Ohio Early season pest control (striped cuke beetle) critical to avoid stand loss or bacterial wilt Admire systemic insecticide in-furrow has shown great success in past research trials Oral/Dermal LD50 2000-5000 Admire cost/efficacy spurred interest in alternative application methods

8. SSIII in Detail

9. Seed / Band Synchronicity Trials

10. Seed / Band Synchronicity Trials

11. Seed / Band Synchronicity Results

12. Q1. At proper planting depth, do insecticide bands still overlap seeds? Q2. Is the volume and concentration of Admire in each treatment effective in controlling Striped Cucumber beetle? Treatments: Water only check (Using SSIII) Continuous application @ 24 oz/A @ 5’ row spacing SSIII @ 24 oz/A @ “high” row spacing SSIII @ 16 oz/A @ “low” row spacing

13. Admire Treatment “Brackets”for Pumpkins, Zukes, & Cukes

18. Bioassay Trials Striped cucumber beetle survives… Check plot beetles should survive Insecticide band missed seed Initial concentration of Admire per injection below effective range Plant tissue has outgrown & diluted lethal Admire concentration

23. Bioassay Summary 8 / 10 trials, Check had significantly less mortality than ALL other treatments In the other 2 trials, Check had significantly less mortality than 2 other treatments 2 / 10 trials, Cont. Flow had significantly higher mortality than both SSIII treatments (Z&C 2nd) In general… mortality decreased as seedling stage and size increased mortality increased as Admire concentration increased Some Striped Cuke beetles appeared to revive from their dead state…

24. Yield Data - Cucumbers

25. Yield Data - Pumpkins

26. Yield Data - Zucchini

27. Yield Data - Zucchini

28. Environmental Summary

29. Economic Summary

30. Project Summary Multi-disciplinary team project Designed and built Precision In-furrow Injector 1 Row unit ca. $1,000; $300 for each extra row Can be adapted to any planter, needs opt. seed tube Synchronization of seed with injector band Decreased as ground speed increased Decreased as seed size decreased Bioassay studies (P, Z, C) 80% of trial treatments had significantly higher mortality than Check Range of efficacy is very robust, very encouraging

31. Project Summary Yield Pumpkins: No difference Zukes: Check was consistently (but not always significantly) lower than other treatments Cukes: Check tended to be significantly lower than continuous flow & high treatments Future direction: To control both volume per injection and band length independent of speed. Currently seeking to patent or license this injector through OSU’s Office of Technology & Licensing Expand this technology to other vegetable crops

32. Acknowledgements

33. Contact Information Matt Darr Darr.27@osu.edu 614-292-6007 Jim Jasinski Jasinski.4@osu.edu 937-484-1526 Full Report available at www.ag.ohio-state.edu/~swest/ipm/ipm.htm