Geneva, New York
February 11, 2002
by Carrie Koplinka-Loehr
There won't be any throwing of rotten tomatoes when Thomas
Zitter receives the 2001 Excellence in IPM Award at the New York
State Vegetable Growers Conference in Liverpool on February 13.
The Cornell professor of plant pathology is too popular for
that---and his life has been dedicated to making rotten
vegetables a thing of the past.
For 33 years Zitter has been studying diseases of fresh-market
tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, squash, cucumbers, and other
vegetables, finding solutions to the diseases that afflict them.
For instance, he's helped tomato growers minimize fungicide
sprays but maintain yields and quality by using disease
forecasting systems, improved sprayers, and alternatives to
chemical pesticides, such as bicarbonates and mineral oils.
Zitter demonstrated bacterial wilt as a new concern for growers
of pumpkins and summer squash and has educated them about the
disease since 1998. He also showed the potential of a biological
product known as "Harpin" to protect certain vegetables against
disease, and in some cases, to increase yields. "There isn't a
season that goes by that I don't learn something that can be
applied in future research---some little kernel of information,"
explained Zitter. "We have to be holistic and integrative in our
approach."
From 1984 to 1992, Zitter helped the NYS IPM Program to grow by
chairing the Vegetable IPM Commodity Committee and serving on
the program's Operating Committee. He's the author of 30
Cornell disease fact sheets and bulletins, he edited the
Compendium of Cucurbit Diseases and the
Compendium of Tomato Diseases (both by APS Press), and was
senior editor for the New York
Cucurbit IPM Scouting Procedures.
Curt Petzoldt, vegetable IPM coordinator for the NYS IPM
Program, has worked with Zitter since
the mid-80s. "Diagnosis is critical for IPM," said Petzoldt,
"and Tom's the king of diagnosis at Cornell---the one everybody
looks to regarding vegetable diseases."
Carrying statewide responsibilities for extension and research,
Zitter collaborates with Extension
educators, growers, and scientists to determine which biological
agents, resistant varieties, and other
controls are effective. He also serves as a resident backup for
Cornell's Plant Disease Diagnostic Lab.
Extension educator Carol MacNeil has worked with Zitter since he
came to Cornell in 1979. "I don't know what we'd do without
him," she said. "He's a tremendous resource, and so responsive
to answering the very practical questions that growers have
about diseases in crops."
Zitter works with dozens of growers across the state, but last
summer he tackled a unique problem
with John Hand, owner of Hand Melon Farm in Greenwich, NY.
Because of a persistent soilborne
fungus, Hand was unable to get his favorite varieties of melons
to thrive. Once planted, they'd wither
and die. Resistant varieties didn't offer comparable flavor or
sweetness.
Zitter and his technician, Jessica Drennan, grafted the leafy
stems of the favored melons onto
disease-resistant rootstocks, secured them with little hair
barrettes, then transplanted them into the
field. The results? Four to five healthy fruit per plant. "It
was spectacular," admits Zitter. "We're
going to do it again this year." Hand is a believer, too.
"Whenever I've needed assistance in
diagnosing problems and deciding on a course of action," he
said, "Tom Zitter has been there."
Abby Seaman and John Mishanec, Extension educators for the New
York State IPM Program,
regularly seek Zitter's advice with demonstration projects on
growers' fields. "The quality about
Tom that really stands out for me," said Seaman, "is how much I
learn every time I have the
opportunity to spend an afternoon in the field with him. Field
plant pathologists like Tom are
becoming an endangered species, but we in the field would be
lost without them."
"Tom's unique at Cornell," said Mishanec. He's very willing to
come out into the field and is always
there to give information. The bottom line is that he wants to
help the grower."
That's one reason why two years ago Zitter, with Cornell plant
pathologist Meg McGrath and Dawn
Dailey O'Brien, released "Vegetable MD Online," a free, internet
diagnostic site for vegetable
growers. Access it, and you'll find more than 600 slides and
information on the vegetables grown in
New York and their major diseases, including a new section on
weed hosts for vegetable viruses. In
2001 the site was accessed more than 8,000 times a month.
"I decided to put as much of my knowledge as possible on the
web," said Zitter, "and we've tried to
make it one-stop shopping." Zitter said developing this site
gave him a creative thrill. "You can get
caught up in your science," said Zitter. "It's great to have
refereed publications, but when it's all said
and done, growers really want the information right at hand.
That's where Cooperative Extension
should be."
Professor Gary Bergstrom, a colleague of Zitter's who nominated
him for the award, said, "I'm
pleased that he's getting recognized. Tom's an exemplary IPM
educator. He embodies the values of
the IPM Program and his recommendations are actually implemented
by growers."
Zitter sums it up a bit differently: "That's what agriculture is
all about; it's the people who make the
difference."
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