du Toit, L.

Lindsey du Toit

Development of a USDA NIFA SCRI proposal to combat onion bacterial diseases across the US

This BIOAg grant was used to support a postdoctorate, Dr. Louisa Winkler, to assist Dr. Lindsey du Toit, WSU Professor of Plant Pathology, prepare a 12-state, 20-person collaborative, multi-disciplinary proposal on onion bacterial diseases to the USDA NIFA Specialty Crops Research Initiative in March 2018. The submitted proposal, which requested ~$3.5 million, ranked in the […]

Impact of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi on Phosphorus Use Efficiency and Root Diseases of Onion Crops

Onion growers in the semi-arid, irrigated Columbia Basin produce 27% of the storage onions in the USA, with a crop farmgate value ranging from $4,000-$7,000/acre. Symbiotic arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) colonize roots of many plant species and help the plants mine soil more effectively for immobile nutrients, particularly phosphorus (P). AMF can also help defend […]

Evaluation of seed treatments for organic vegetable production in the Pacific Northwest

This study addresses management of damping-off in organic vegetables in central Washington, using pea as an early season, model crop. The disease is being examined under low soil temperature and high soil moisture conditions of early spring in the Columbia Basin, when damping-off is most severe. PhD student, Ana Vida Alcala, spent 2009 and spring […]

Organic Seed Treatments

The new rules and standards of the USDA National Organic Program have increased the demand for organically produced seed, but have also raised concerns about losses due to both seedborne and soilborne pathogens because of the limited number of options available for organic seed treatment. This is compounded by a lack of unbiased scientific data […]