Investigator: Crowder, D.
Mapping Colorado potato beetle to promote proactive management in potato
Potatoes are one of the highest value crops grown in Washington, but growers face threats from pests such as Colorado potato beetle (CPB). Because potatoes…
Investigating sustainable and cost-effective strategies to expand production of food quality winter pea as a viable specialty crop in Palouse
Winter pea could be a transformative crop in Washington due to high yields, tolerance for a wide range of conditions, and potential to provide income…
Using alternative host plants to improve accuracy of forecasting models for pest aphids
Aphids are abundant, outbreaking insect herbivores that can deal considerable economic damage to cereals and legumes due to pathogens they transmit. While aphid-virus outbreaks can…
Examining microbial mediation of disease resistance, pollinator attraction, and crop yield in apple crops
The composition of microbial communities can have dramatic, but often unappreciated, impacts on crop production. In apple crops, surveys indicate that numerous microbe species colonize…
Introducing Organic Quinoa Production Systems in the Palouse
The popularity of quinoa in the past decade has quadrupled prices at U.S. retail outlets. For all this demand, the vast majority of the quinoa…
Effects of Nematode Genetic Diversity on Management of Potato Pests
Market forces are driving conventional Columbia Basin potato growers towards less-chemically-intensive pest management approaches, such as biological control. Insect-killing, entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs), which live in…
Local and landscape-scale conservation of beneficial predators in Columbia Basin Potato Crops
Biological control by naturally-occurring predatory insects and spiders is an ecologically friendly and sustainable approach to pest management. Biological control is often underutilized, however, in…