The University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences says it recently renewed a $4 million contract with the USDA’s Agriculture Research Service to continue its research on the silverleaf whitefly.
Silverleaf whiteflies caused $150 million in crop losses to the state’s vegetable growers in 2017, according to the university, which added that the pest also can transmit more than 100 plant viruses. Researchers said they hope to develop strategies to better mitigate the impact of this pest on vegetable production in the Southeast and better understand this pest with this new round of funding
The university said Allen Moore, a research professor in the department of entomology, will lead the multi-institutional team of researchers from UGA, Fort Valley State University and Auburn University in collaboration with ARS in Charleston, S.C.
While this pest has been around for several years, the industry still faces an emergency as whiteflies are notoriously difficult to control, Moore said in a news release. Warmer winter temperatures, wide host range, the ability of the pest to reproduce asexually and few resistant crop varieties make control a challenge, he said.
“It’s the worst pest you can possibly imagine,” Moore said in the release. “Adults with insecticide-resistance genes survive and pass the trait to their offspring. As more susceptible whiteflies are eliminated from a population, the proportion of resistant insects increases, leaving less opportunity for traditionally effective insecticides to do their intended job.”
Related: Georgia growers hope cold will kill destructive whiteflies
