A cyber-age approach to manage barley yellow dwarf virus in winter wheat on a global scale

Cyber-age technology is an increasingly important tool for disseminating real-time and forecast information on crop-pest status to grower communities. Programs such as Pennsylvania’s Pest Information Platform for Extension and Education (PA-PIPE) have paved the way for such information. Using the PA-PIPE as a template, a decision-support system was designed for managing the disease complex of barley yellow dwarf virus and its aphid vectors. This system demonstrated the utility of coupling a PA-PIPE-like infrastructure with Integrated Pest Management (IPM) tactics.

The decision-support system informs growers around the world of the best practices to manage barley yellow dwarf disease. It uses, as input, meteorological and aphid migration data obtained from high resolution weather records and forecasts, and in situ pest monitoring. The best management practices are generated by dependency networks that model growers’ decision throughout a winter wheat season. The practices include insecticide treated seed use, optimal planting dates for avoidance of aphid migration, timing and necessity of scouting, and timing and concentration of insecticide applications. The networks are constantly updated during the season. An optimization process determines the probabilities associated with sets of management practices, a subset of which represents desirable courses of action. A collaborating company, ZedX, Inc., provides public web services and smartphone application in support of the dependency-based system. Complementary sociological research examines technology attitudes and practices to anticipate grower interest in cyber-age technology. This research will be the basis for presenting the appropriate technology to improve IPM decision making.