Alson H. Smith Jr. Agricultural Research and Extension Center
Latest News and AREC updates
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USDA CPPM Project’s Fire Blight Workshop , articlePlease RSVP to Join The USDA CPPM Project’s Fire Blight Workshop on 25 July 2024.
Date: 07/15/2024 -
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J. Christopher Bergh honored with emeritus status , redirect Date: 04/14/2023 -
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Alson H. Smith Jr. Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Winchester, Virginia
The Alson H. Smith Jr. Agricultural Research and Extension Center serves Virginia’s commercial fruit and value-added horticultural food crops industries through research, educational programs, development of sustainable production systems and technologies, and increased public knowledge of horticultural opportunities and benefits.
DISCIPLINES
Tree fruit entomology
Tree fruit and specialty crop horticulture
Tree fruite and specialty crop pathology
Grape pathology
Viticulture
INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES
Membrane-based grapevine virus sampling kit
Molecular tools to detect and identify major grape pathogens
Marker-Assisted Breeding (MAB) of apple
CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene editing of apple
Weather-based prediction models for managing crop load in apple
Partial canopy rain shelters for grapevine
Novel fungicide chemistry for grape disease management
FACILITIES
124 acres, over 40 field plots
6 modern labs
24,500 square-foot complex
100 person auditorium
INDUSTRY PARTNERS
Virginia Agribusiness Council
Wine Industry
Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
Apple Industry
GrapeIPM.org
The AREC's grape pathology lab is developing a web-based decision-support system for grape pest management called GrapeIPM.org. This mobile-ready system allows grape growers and other users to access this information from anywhere. A user can set up multiple vineyards and blocks to input site-specific information, including fungicide inventory, spray plan/records, disease observations, and more.
This system helps growers make decisions on their pesticide application by providing the following:
- guidance in pre-season fungicide application-planning based on the AREC’s pesticide database;
- reminders of in-season actions;
- a personal fungicide inventory for planning;
- recordkeeping on fungicide application and other viticulture-related information;
- printouts for EPA reports and for Worker Protection Standard postings; and
- daily weather and disease-risk information based on user input and nearby weather stations.
In order to keep our objectives simple, we are currently focusing on disease management. Over the next several years, the system will be expanded to include other pesticide uses.
The development of GrapeIPM.org has been supported by the Virginia Wine Board and the USDA NIFA Extension Implementation Program and was officially released to growers in 2018.
AREC Fact Sheet
Click on the image below to view the full pdf
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