Project Number: 5306-21220-004-00
Project Type: Appropriated

Start Date: Mar 12, 2007
End Date: Mar 11, 2012

Objective:
1. Develop sustainable disease control practices for grapevines. 2. Develop sustainable vineyard floor management practices. 3. Develop sustainable water management practices for vineyards. 4. Investigate the impacts of vineyard practices on soil microbial ecology. 5. Identify & characterize viral & graft-transmissable agents of grapevine.

Approach:
1. Characterize the infection process of grapevine roots by the fungal pathogen Armillaria mellea, the causal agent of Armillaria root disease; Characterize the significance of riparian areas in the spread of Pierce's disease; and Identify and characterize viral and graft transmissible agents. 2. Identify differences in regional populations of Conyza canadensis, cover crops that effectively compete with c. canadensis, and effects of soil resource availability on competition between cover crops and C. canadensis; and Identify cover crops that effectively compete with problematic weeds. 3. Evaluate the interactive effects of irrigation practices and vineyard floor management practices on grapevine yield, growth, physiology, and nutrition. 4. Examine the effect of cover crop functional type on soil microbial communities and microbially-mediated soil processes; Characterize rhizosphere communities associated with Vitis rootstocks; and Examine the impacts of vineyard floor practices on mycorrhizae. REPLACING 5306-21220-003-00D (01/07)