Improving Diagnostic Skills through Regional Training Sessions and Web Site Improvement

Abstract

Any Integrated Pest Management (IPM) effort needs to stress the importance of proper, accurate pathogen and pest identification. Control method recommendations are often very specific depending on the organism causing the plant disease. An IPM approach to managing pathogens will only be successful if proper disease diagnosis is performed prior to taking any action to correct the situation. The Plant Disease Diagnostic Clinic at Cornell University has dedicated itself to providing the New York State community with plant disease diagnostic pathogen identification and education. To continue this mission and expand our audience, we implemented a plan to improve our interaction with consumers and professional horticulturists and to increase the awareness of plant diseases among residents of our community through regional training sessions.