P-105 - Evaluation of plant protection products as a management strategy for hail damage on specialty crops in North Dakota

Application of plant protection products (PPP) for physiological benefits unrelated to disease management have been investigated for several crops and stressors. However, little data exists in many specialty crops, including dry edible beans and confectionary sunflower. As these crops are typically high value, grown in areas of frequent stressors (hail, drought) and, in the case of dry edible beans, have three economically-limiting foliar bacterial diseases (requiring injury for infection), extrapolation of physiological yield-benefit results from major crops may be of limited value. The study objectives were 1) evaluate the benefit of applying PPP post-hail and 2) determine the benefit of PPP on disease development with and without hail. For the first objective, disease-free field trials were established for confection sunflowers, pinto beans and navy beans that included applications of two PPP, with and without an artificial hail event. For the second objective, the same crops were established in pathogen inoculated, hail and non-hail environments. In confectionary sunflower experiments, a yield benefit was observed independent of hail (p=0.1118) in non-diseased environments. In Puccinia helianthi inoculated trials, significant yield increases were observed with PPP applications, however, the yield benefit was not correlated to disease severity. In dry edible bean trials, yield benefits were not observed in any environment, regardless of disease presence or severity. This work will help inform crop management decisions on two high-value specialty crops under stress.