Author: Cole Baerlocher

Sustainable Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategies have gained increasing attention in modern agriculture, aiming to minimize the reliance on conventional chemistries and promote environmentally friendly alternatives. Biostimulants and beneficial soil bacteria have emerged as promising components of sustainable IPM approaches. Biostimulants, which are substances derived from natural sources, enhance plant growth, development, and stress tolerance.…

Our primary objective is to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the presence and extent of insecticide resistance within P. xylostella populations in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV). To achieve this, we gather baseline data on the susceptibility to three commonly used active ingredients with distinct modes of action: Chlorantraniliprole (Coragen), Spinetoram (Radiant), and Emamectin (Proclaim). By evaluating…

Insects contain visual sensory systems to assist them in food foraging, mating, predator detection and navigation. Remarkably, most have been found to perceive ultraviolet light, polarized light, and color vision. To some degree, this has been taken advantage of with the development of pest control devices like yellow sticky traps or UV-light traps. Understanding the…

Tomato production is in constant pressure of biotic and abiotic stresses that limit production. In South Texas, the main disease affecting production is caused by the Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV), a virus vectored by the silverleaf whitefly (Bemisia tabaci). In the absence of Texas-adapted heat tolerant and TYLCV resistant cultivars, disease control relies on the…

Protected structures such as high tunnels, enthuses, and greenhouses provide an alternative to tomato production in harsh environmental conditions by extending the growing season. The breeding program is currently leading a project to evaluate the agronomic and economic feasibility of covered structures as an alternative to open field production to reduce yield loses caused by…

To date, no commercial tomato cultivar carries resistance to the potato psyllid (PP), the vector of “Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum” (cLso) and the causal agent of tomato vein greening in tomato and other economically important diseases in solanaceous crops. As a result, farmers rely solely on chemical applications to control the insect. It is imperative to develop resistant…

Spinach (Spinacia oleracea) is an economically important leafy green crop in the US. Unfortunately, improving nutritional content has not been prioritized in commercial spinach varieties as breeding for yield and disease resistance have been a predominant focus. Vitamin C (ascorbic acid, AsA) is an essential nutrient for humans involved in the growth, development, and repair…

Breeding for spinach improvement requires new methods to speed up the development of cultivars with increased yield potential and disease and pest resistance. In Texas, the most yield-limiting diseases in spinach production include White Rust (WR) and recently Anthracnose, caused by Albugo occidentalis and Colletotrichum dematium, respectively. Since natural infection levels in the field varies year-to-year, conventional selection of…

Texas A&M AgriLife tomato breeding program at Weslaco is developing tomato cultivars with high yield, disease resistance and improved fruit quality adapted to Texas growing conditions. As part of our efforts, we have developed several specialty-type Cherry and Cocktail F1 hybrid tomatoes with great flavor and appeal. Cherry and Cocktail type tomatoes are characterized by…

In response to consumer and producer demands, the Vegetable breeding program at Texas A&M AgriLife-Weslaco has been working on developing solutions to increase the spinach industry competitiveness. Texas is one of the leading spinach-producing states in the US for both the fresh and canning markets. Unfortunately, the higher-value fresh market production where producers make most…