Effectiveness of Disease Control Strategies for Crop Disease
Author Information
Author(s): Gilligan Christopher A, Truscott James E, Stacey Adrian J
Primary Institution: Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge
Hypothesis
Can the disease be managed by movement of susceptibles in the landscape?
Conclusion
The study concludes that matching the scales of local control strategies is crucial to prevent the spread of crop diseases like rhizomania.
Supporting Evidence
- A simple field-scale containment strategy fails due to the lag behind the epidemic.
- A farm-scale strategy succeeds by allowing growers to respond to disease status of neighboring farms.
- Partially resistant varieties reduce but do not eliminate disease spread.
Takeaway
This study shows that to stop crop diseases, farmers need to work together and move their crops around based on where the disease is spreading.
Methodology
A spatially explicit, stochastic model was used to analyze the effectiveness of different scales of local control strategies.
Limitations
The model may not account for all real-world complexities of disease spread and control.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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