A damaged leaf or an ailing plant can be an early warning of trouble for a harvest. At Blackacre Farm, farmers and community gardeners learned how to recognize those signs and decide what to do next.
Kentucky State University’s Pest and Disease Management Workshop and Field Day brought growers together Sept. 19 for practical instruction and hands-on crop scouting.
Led by Dr. Alhagie K. Cham, urban horticulture Extension and research scientist with the University’s Cooperative Extension Program, the training focused on identifying problems early, protecting crop quality, and reducing production losses.
“Effective pest and disease management starts with regular scouting and accurate identification,” Dr. Cham said. “When growers know what they are seeing in their crops, they can make informed management decisions, prevent problems from becoming more serious, and protect crop quality and productivity.”
Blackacre’s community garden offers more than 300 plots, including organic and conventional growing options. For the workshop, those growing spaces became a learning laboratory where participants could connect instruction with crop conditions in the field.
Susan Ballerstedt, Blackacre’s farm and garden manager, opened the morning with an introduction to the site, its growing operations, and the community of gardeners who use it.
Source : kysu.edu