USA
August 11, 2020
Crop scouts and field researchers now have a new tool at their disposal to help correctly estimate disease severity and insect defoliation in field crops. The Disease Severity and Defoliation Training tool was developed by the Crop Protection Network.
This web tool will help scouts and researchers hone their assessment skills to accurately estimate the amount of a leaf covered by disease lesions and the amount of defoliation caused by insect pests.
“The Crop Protection Network hopes this new tool can help people make the most accurate estimations possible,” said Daren Mueller, co-director of the Crop Protection Network. “We want to offer as many tools as possible to help with scouting efforts and ultimately help make the best management decisions”
Using expert information and interactive activities, the new tool presents several common diseases, along with a corresponding visual trainer and self-practice opportunities for assessing injury caused by each disease.
Figure 1. The new web tool from the Crop Protection Network helps to train crop scouts and researchers how to more accurately estimate defoliation and lesion severity on field crops. This screenshot of the web tool shows eyespot lesions covering approximately 20% of a corn leaf.
The Crop Protection Network (CPN) is a multi-state and international collaboration of university and provincial extension specialists, and public and private professionals who provide unbiased, research-based information to farmers and agricultural personnel. The goal of CPN is to communicate relevant information that will help professionals identify and manage field crop diseases and other crop production/protection issues.
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