Browse Plant Pests and Diseases Stories - Page 2

Georgia’s corn producers should be on alert for southern corn rust, a devastating disease that has been found in several Georgia counties this year, exacerbated by a warm La Niña winter and hot, humid conditions so far this season.

The Southern Integrated Pest Management Center has inducted University of Georgia Cooperative Extension fruit pathologist Phil Brannen into the Integrated Pest Management Hall of Fame for his significant contributions to commercial fruit growers throughout the Southern U.S. over the past 30 years.

“What’s wrong with the leaves of my oak tree? Is my tree dying?” Over the past several weeks, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension offices across north Georgia have been flooded with calls from residents asking about their oak trees. Whether white, red or chestnut oaks, the question has been the same.

New insect wreaking havoc in your cotton field? Troublesome disease in your peanut stand you don’t recognize? No idea where to start? There’s an app for that.

With the onset of warmer, longer days, an array of pink blooms from peach, cherry and plum trees break forth — the first signs of spring. And while most of us enjoy this seasonal shift, fruit tree growers prepare their orchards for the relentless, annual migration of insect pests.

New research from the University of Georgia has shown, for the first time, that compounds used to fight fungal diseases in plants are causing resistance to antifungal medications used to treat people. 

University of Georgia plant pathology researcher Melissa Mitchum will co-direct a $1.2 million award from the joint National Science Foundation and U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NSF-NIFA) Plant-Biotic Interactions Program to help combat a devastating soybean pathogen with colleagues at the University of Missouri.         

University of Georgia researchers have identified a new species of bacteria, which they have named Pseudomonas alliivorans — from “allium vorans,” which translates as onion devourer or eater.

Recently, a church trustee in Bartow County brought samples of “holey” mail to the local University of Georgia Cooperative Extension office for closer examination. Strangely, mail deposited in the church’s mailbox was showing up with holes chewed through the outer layer of the envelopes, but the mail inside was intact — a small miracle in itself.

The use of cover crops has risen among both traditional and organic producers for a variety of reasons — to control erosion, choke out weeds, improve soil health and enhance water availability. Now research by University of Georgia scientists is examining which cover crops also may provide important habitat for predatory insects that could help control disease- and damage-causing pests in cotton.