Thanks to the work of an international, multidisciplinary team of researchers led by Cornell AgriTech’s David Gadoury, farmers may no longer have to rely exclusively on fungicides to suppress destructive plant pathogens like powdery mildew.
Over the last five years, the Light and Plant Health project team has refined the science and applied technology behind using ultraviolet (UV) light to kill the fungi that causes powdery mildew (PM), opening the door for the technology’s use to control other plant pathogens.
“In more than three years of trials, UV light applications worked as well as or better than available fungicides, killing 95 percent of PM in field strawberries. We’ve seen similar results in field and greenhouse trials of basil, roses, grapes, strawberries, rosemary and cucumbers,” said Gadoury, senior research associate in the Section of Plant Pathology and Plant Microbe-Biology, in the School of Integrative Plant Science.
Read more at Cornell University
Image: The Light and Plant Health project team, led by Cornell AgriTech’s David Gadoury, has developed inexpensive, efficient lighting and delivery systems, such as low-tech tractor attachments, to treat plants with UV light. CREDIT: Cornell University