Class
Article
Graduation Year
2018
College
College of Science
Department
Mathematics and Statistics Department
Faculty Mentor
Luis Gordillo
Presentation Type
Poster Presentation
Abstract
Alfalfa is a major cash crop in the western United States, where it is common to find fields that are infested with the alfalfa stem nematode (Ditylenchus dipsaci). With no nematicides available to control nematode spread, growers can use nematode resistant varieties of alfalfa to manage nematode populations in a field. I present a deterministic, discrete-time, host-parasite model that describes the spread of alfalfa stem nematodes on resistant hosts that was fit to experimental data obtained in Weber County, Utah. Numerical results obtained from simulations with the model are used to compare how varying levels of resistance can affect harvest yield. Results show that switching from a low resistant rating to a high resistant rating can approximately double the yield over the lifetime of the alfalfa crop.
Location
South Atrium
Start Date
4-13-2017 1:30 PM
End Date
4-13-2017 2:45 PM
Yield to the Resistance: The Impact of Nematode Resistant Varieties on Alfalfa Yield
South Atrium
Alfalfa is a major cash crop in the western United States, where it is common to find fields that are infested with the alfalfa stem nematode (Ditylenchus dipsaci). With no nematicides available to control nematode spread, growers can use nematode resistant varieties of alfalfa to manage nematode populations in a field. I present a deterministic, discrete-time, host-parasite model that describes the spread of alfalfa stem nematodes on resistant hosts that was fit to experimental data obtained in Weber County, Utah. Numerical results obtained from simulations with the model are used to compare how varying levels of resistance can affect harvest yield. Results show that switching from a low resistant rating to a high resistant rating can approximately double the yield over the lifetime of the alfalfa crop.