Several CucCAP Team members are collaborating on an important USDA project focused on managing anthracnose in cucurbits. University of Georgia Scientists will lead the team from Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Delaware, New York and the USDA Vegetable Laboratory in Charles, South Carolina.
Quesada-Ocampo Lab @ NC State
The NC State Vegetable Pathology Lab studies diseases of cucurbit crops to deliver novel and improved disease management strategies to growers in North Carolina and advance knowledge in the field of vegetable pathology.
Multistate Effort to Combat Anthracnose
Management Strategies of Phytophthora Blight in Cucurbits
The USDA has identified vegetable crops as challenged specialty crops. Cucurbits are important cash crops in the United States. The profitable and sustainable production of cucurbits is severely impacted by the destructive soilborne disease, Phytophthora blight.
Early Career Scientist Spotlight | Kelly Avila
Kelly Avila is a Post Doctoral Researcher and works with CucCAP Plant Pathologist Dr. Lina Quesada in the Vegetable Pathology Lab at NC State University. She chose to work in the Quasada lab because of the focus on Extension, integrated disease management, and genomics.
Field Scouting Guide for Phytophthora
CDM confirmed on squash in Johnson County, N.C.
This disease was confirmed on squash in Johnson County, North Carolina on August 25, 2023. Disease incidence was approximately 15% and the affected leaves showed 45% disease severity.
Cucumber field trials 2023
The Vegetable Pathology Lab at NC State conducts field trials each growing season to study plant pathogens, resistance of plant varieties to pathogens, and vegetable disease management strategies. When a field trial is harvested, the crop is weighed, graded, and evaluated for disease damage and marketability.
