Grapegrowers and winemakers enlisted as pest sleuths(1)
UC Davis conference focuses on plant pests and winemaking tools
Richard Hoenisch of the UCD Department of Plant Pathology, and the National Plant Diagnostic Network, discussed invasive pest threats to vineyards and invited people to become NPDN First Detectors.
Davis, Calif.—The 2012 Current Wine and Winegrape Research Conference at the University of California, Davis, on Feb. 14 delivered invitations instead of valentines to attendees, who were asked to become registered plant pest detectors and provide input for a wine production survey. Presentations addressed vineyard and winemaking issues, focusing on tools to detect, analyze and manage vineyard problems including grapevine leafroll virus and vine trunk pathogens, plus tools and methods to analyze and manage wine chemistry.
Dr. Deborah Golino of the UC Davis Foundation Plant Services (FPS), organized and moderated the fourth annual conference, presented by UC Davis Extension with sponsorship from the American Vineyard Foundation and the National Grape and Wine Initiative. Speakers included researchers from the UC Davis departments of Viticulture & Enology and Plant Pathology; UC Cooperative Extension; FPS and the California State University, Fresno, Department of Viticulture and Enology.
Invasive pests a national concern
Richard Hoenisch of the UC Davis Department of Plant Pathology discussed invasive pests and diseases in vineyards. As an education coordinator with the National Plant Diagnostic Network (NPDN), he invited attendees to train and enlist as NPDN First Detectors.
NPDN was created in 2002 through the Agricultural Bioterrorism Protection Act, and it operates under the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture. NPDN facilitates the rapid discovery and diagnosis of high-risk, exotic and emerging plant pathogens, insects, nematodes, weeds and other pests that threaten U.S. agriculture and the nation’s food supply. NPDN is a national network of state and federal agricultural agencies, land grant universities, cooperative extension and diagnostic laboratories.
NPDN is made up of five regions and regional centers: Cornell University (Northeast); Michigan State University (North Central); Kansas State University (Great Plains); University of Florida (Southern) and UC Davis (Western), which covers California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Alaska and Hawaii. The Western region’s diagnostic services are provided by the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s Plant Pest Diagnostic Center Laboratory in Sacramento.
