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[GWL]: FW: Cricket-resistant Turf in the Pipeline


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From: "ARS News Service" <isnv@ars-grin.gov>
To: "ARS News List" <ars-news@ars-grin.gov>
Subject: Cricket-resistant Turf in the Pipeline
Date: Fri, Aug 10, 2001, 6:41 AM


STORY LEAD:
Cricket-resistant Turf in the Pipeline

___________________________________________

ARS News Service
Agricultural Research Service, USDA
August 10, 2001
Jan Suszkiw, (301) 504-1630, jsuszkiw@ars.usda.gov
___________________________________________

Mole crickets, tunneling pests that damage golf courses, recreational fields
and lawns, could meet their match in sturdy new Bermudagrass hybrids
developed by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and University of Georgia
(UGA) researchers.

In the Southeast, mole crickets are the top insect pest of lawns and turf.
In Georgia, for example, cricket damage and control costs are an estimated
$26 million annually, and $170 million in Florida. Using powerful,
shovellike forelegs, the quarter-inch-long pest causes harm by tunneling
beneath turfgrass or feeding on it. On golf courses, spraying insecticide to
stop mole crickets from marring putting greens and fairways can be a
$100,000 annual affair, notes Wayne Hanna, a geneticist who leads ARS' Crop
Genetics and Breeding Research Unit in Tifton, Ga.
(http://sacs.cpes.peachnet.edu/fat).

Seeking a cheaper, more environment-friendly alternative, Hanna teamed with
UGA researchers Kris Braman and Will Hudson to systematically screen the ARS
lab's Bermudagrass collection for hybrids that naturally deter mole
crickets. From 27,000 total hybrids in 1993, they narrowed their initial
search to 448, and later to 103 having the traits expected of commercial
turf. These traits include color, a thick canopy, disease resistance and
tolerance to drought and frequent cutting.

The Bermudagrass hybrid selections also ranked highest for resistance to
both tawny and southern mole crickets--Scapteriscus vicinus and S. borellii,
respectively.Additionally, the grasses were selected for their adaptability
to growing conditions in Georgia, South Carolina, Florida and other
southeastern states.

In replicated trials, the resistant grasses sustained up to 90 percent less
cricket damage than Tifdwarf, Tifgreen and other commercial cultivars used
for comparison. A fast-recovering root system or natural repellence may be
two possible sources of the strains' resistance.

Hanna's lab has begun propagating sprigs of the Bermudagrass hybrids for
large-scale testing in spring 2002 on commercial golf courses, athletic
fields and other sites. Pending these tests, the grasses could become
commercially available in the next few years.

ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific research
agency.

___________________________________________
This item is one of the news releases and story leads that ARS Information
distributes on weekdays to fax and e-mail subscribers. You can also get the
latest ARS news on the World Wide Web at
www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm.
* Feedback and questions to ARS News Service via e-mail: isjd@ars-grin.gov.
* ARS Information Staff, 5601 Sunnyside Ave., Room 1-2251, Beltsville MD
20705- 5128, (301) 504-1617, fax 504-1648.

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