HISTORY AND LOCATION

The dynamic nature of TSWV in Georgia's diverse agricultural environment is very complex and not well understood. However, in the past, TSWV has been observed to be more severe in some geographical areas than others. Sometimes, even smaller geographical areas or even individual fields within a county may also have a tendency to have more or less TSWV than surrounding areas. Incidence of TSWV has generally increased in the entire state, and the predictability of geographic variations in the future is uncertain.

"History of TSWV in Your Area" is no longer used as a factor for calculating the Spotted Wilt Risk Index, but history of spotted wilt in a particular field or area definitely should still be considered during planning for the peanut crop season. Location still can be a huge factor in spotted wilt epidemics. Therefore, if spotted wilt has occurred in an area at levels high enough to cause severe problems, we must assume that it has the potential to cause severe problems in subsequent years if critical factors that influence epidemic development remain the same. For this reason, growers planting peanuts in fields or areas with a history of severe problems with TSWV should consider manipulating as many factors as possible to minimize the risk of losses to spotted wilt.

Unfortunately, we cannot assume that fields or areas that have not had problems with spotted wilt in the past will not have problems with the disease in the future. However, in general, the risk of having severe problems in fields with no or light spotted wilt infestations in the past does appear to be less than in those fields where spotted wilt previously has been severe, assuming other factors remain similar.

For more information on any of these or related topics, feel free to contact Albert Culbreath by phone (229) 386-3370, fax (229) 386-7285 or email (spotwilt@tifton.uga.edu).