Tim Brenneman and Bhabesh Dutta, plant pathologists in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, received the Friends of Southern Integrated Pest Management awards at the Georgia Association of Plant Pathologists annual meeting in Savannah on March 13.
Brenneman, professor of plant pathology, received the Friends of Southern IPM Lifetime Achievement Award. Dutta, assistant professor and UGA Cooperative Extension vegetable pathologist, was honored with the Friends of Southern IPM Bright Idea Award.
Brenneman, a scientist on the Tifton campus, has studied soilborne and seedling diseases and their impact on Georgia’s peanut crop. He has helped develop most of the fungicides used on peanuts as well as innovative application methods, such as night spraying, which help them perform better. Brenneman is also a leading researcher of pecan diseases, including the AU-Pecan Spray Advisory for scab. He also helped develop a new industry for Georgia farmers through his research on native pecan truffles.
Along with his collaborators, Dutta, who also is based at UGA-Tifton, developed a risk-assessment model for bacterial leaf spot disease of peppers based on concentrations of macronutrients, micronutrients and micronutrient ratios in soil and plant tissue.
The Southern IPM Center has teamed with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, land-grant universities and other partners since 2003 to promote and facilitate the development and implementation of IPM in multiple settings across the region.
