10/11/2023 - Our program has been a member of the Tomato Organic Management Initiative (TOMI) team for many years. This multi-state project is funded by USDA/NIFA OREI. One research initiative in this project is to evaluate fungicides for use in certified organic tomato production. The certified organic research unit on the Mountain Research Station in Waynesville was ideal for one of the research sites because of the high disease pressure in western North Carolina. The multi-site project was led by Dr. Dan Egel, the Purdue University pathologist on the TOMI team. Margaret Bloomquist, research scholar in the NC Alternative Crops & Organics Program in the Dept. of Horticultural Science at NC State, managed the North Carolina site.

Results from the study were published in the Crop Protection Journal in 2019, and Dan Egel, Lori Hoagland, and Ashley Adair recently published a grower-oriented bulletin with guidance on how to interpret the results and use the products. It is published on eOrganic and can be accessed here:

Efficacy of Selected Fungicides Listed for Organic Production for Tomato Disease Management

You can learn more about the TOMI project on eOrganic

Reviewed by Jeanine Davis on 12/6/2023.