Alson H. Smith Jr. Agricultural Research and Extension Center
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 fruit 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.
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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