The Cotton Research Area Committee (RAC) of the NPMTI is comprised of scientific experts in plant pathology, agronomy, and entomology representing a geographic area encompassing more than 98% of US cotton acres. Members of this committee provide the primary means of scientific prioritization for the development of predictive modeling tools for disease in the Cotton Belt.
Significant progress has been made to date. The Cotton RAC has documented the re-emergence of areolate mildew and target spot through spore trapping and boots on the ground confirmation across more than nine states, underscoring the need for a coordinated regional response. To support development of robust prediction tools, the committee has established uniform protocols for disease monitoring and data collection so weather-based models can be developed and validated across the region. In addition, historic datasets have been mined to better define the contribution of seedling diseases to stand loss and disease development, providing critical inputs for cotton emergence modeling.
Present work by the cotton RAC includes validation of cotton emergence models integrating pathogen risk and continued validation of disease and environmental datasets for areolate mildew and target spot. Since both diseases are caused by fungal pathogens and spread primarily by airborne spores, these datasets serve to determine how best to predict outbreaks based on in-season spore presence (current and historic) and confirmed field observations of disease. The committee is also evaluating the geographic distribution of species within the areolate mildew pathosystems (evidence suggests there are two different fungi that cause this disease) associated with spore traps to improve understanding of pathogen variability and to support future development efforts of resistant cotton varieties.
Looking forward, the cotton emergence model is currently being integrated into the Crop Protection Network interface for NPMTI tools as it moves through the validation process. As the target spot and areolate mildew models are validated using real-time data, they will also be incorporated into this same interface to provide a one-stop shop for cotton disease prediction tools. This critical regional effort is also being leveraged to advance understanding of foliar diseases in cotton and to support development of varieties with ample resistance to areolate mildew and target spot in the United States.