NATIONAL TEAM TO USE $5.7 MILLION USDA AWARD TO ADDRESS ANNUAL BLUEGRASS EPIDEMIC IN TURFGRASS
By Kay Ledbetter
Editor’s note: Tis article was originally posted online on November 7, 2018, on the Texas A&M Agriculture & Life Sciences Department of Soil and Crop Sciences website:
http://soilcrop.tamu.edu/poa-team-5million-research-grant/
Te most widely grown irrigated crop in the U.S.— turfgrass—is being threatened, and Texas A&M AgriLife is leading a project to find solutions.
Annual bluegrass, known as Poa annua, is the most troublesome weed of turf systems, according to a recent Weed Science Society of America survey, and this weed has grown to epidemic proportions, causing severe economic losses.
Texas A&M AgriLife is joining scientists across the nation to address the threat with a project, Research and Extension to Address Herbicide-Resistance Epidemic in Annual Bluegrass in Managed Turf Systems.
A team of 16 scientists across 15 universities will be involved in the four-year, $5.7 million project to limit the impact of annual bluegrass, the most troublesome weed of athletic, golf, lawn and sod turf, said Dr. Muthu Bagavathiannan, lead investigator/weed scientist with Texas A&M AgriLife Research in the Soil and Crop Sciences Department, College Station.
Funding is from a Specialty Crops Research Initiative Coordinated Agricultural Project grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture-National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
“Te national-scale herbicide-resistance epidemic in annual bluegrass in managed turfgrass systems is in need of critical research and extension attention,” Bagavathiannan said.
Te team’s multifaceted approach will be to characterize the distribution of herbicide-resistant populations, seek weaknesses in the weed’s seed biology and growth characteristics, and develop alternatives to herbicides to supplement current control measures, with a robust extension and education program, he said.
Known popularly as the “Green Industry” or the “Environmental Horticulture Industry,” turfgrass is about a $100 billion specialty crop industry in the U.S.,
38
with about 50 million acres of managed turf operations nationwide, according to co-investigator Dr. Becky Grubbs, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service turfgrass specialist, College Station.
With high genetic diversity and rapid adaptation to climates and management, this species is found in all U.S. hardiness zones, said Dr. Alec Kowalewski, associate professor at Oregon State University. Even small infestations can quickly spread throughout a turf field.
Annual bluegrass, marked by its distinct light green color with white flower heads, is not tolerated in managed turf systems because of a severe negative impact on turf quality, said Dr. Bert McCarty, Clemson University professor.
Poor tolerance of annual bluegrass to moisture and heat stress as well as stand density loss due to disease and nematode infections severely affect the recreational quality of the turf, said Dr. James Brosnan, University of Tennessee associate professor.
Te rapid rise and movement of herbicide-resistant Poa annua from one location to another might be linked to contaminated turfgrass seed being planted or Poa-infested sod installed unbeknownst to turf managers, said Dr. Aaron Patton, Purdue University professor.
Understanding resistance mechanisms may provide insight for developing suitable management practices, said Dr. Scott McElroy, Auburn University professor. If the genetic relationships can be determined between resistant populations, suitable management practices could be identified and implemented to prevent their spread.
A common South Korean golf course practice is to clean golf shoes with compressed air after finishing a golf round. Tis simple practice could reduce the spread of herbicide- resistant populations across golf courses, and in turn reduce the amount of herbicide applied there and to other turfgrass areas, said Dr. Patrick McCullough, University of Georgia professor.
Dr. Travis Gannon, North Carolina State University associate professor, said the potential of non-target-site resistance (NTSR) mechanisms is a growing concern because such mechanisms may confer resistance to unrelated herbicide groups. “We are excited about the opportunity to investigate NTSR among Poa populations across the national scale.”
TPI Turf News March/April 2019
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68
