Because PM and DM have such tremendous reproductive potential, they are, along with Botrytis, the pathogens first to develop resistance to new fungicides.  Control is thus a matter of developing integrated programs crafted to provide control while thwarting the development of resistance.  Disease management programs incorporating knowledge from research on environmental factors, cultivar susceptibility, and strategic fungicide application should be developed for growers to help them achieve disease control with the least possible expense.  Our objectives are to: 1) develop best possible control programs for powdery and downy mildews using a) reduced-risk/biological products, b) organic materials, or c) chemicals; 2) identify crop cultivars with less susceptibility to mildews; and 3) define environmental cues triggering mildew outbreaks.  The research teams at Michigan State University and Cornell University will develop and extend to growers explicit control recommendations based on their studies in the Midwest and Northeast and, with assistance of grower collaborators, in the different environments of field and greenhouse production in the West and Southeast.  Information will be disseminated via national and regional educational programs and articles in trade publications and scientific journals.       

            
For further information contact Dr. Mary Hausbeck at hausbec1@msu.edu