@article{morales_avila_bhatta_bill_bugingo_buitrago-acosta_collins_dangi_hanson_hendershot_et al._2025, title={Bittersweet Challenges: Postharvest Disease Management in Sugarbeet and Sweetpotato}, volume={3}, DOI={10.1094/pdis-10-24-2214-fe}, abstractNote={Root crops like sugarbeet and sweetpotato possess an aggregated value that sets them apart from other crops. This aggregated value includes not only their economic importance but also their high nutritional content, which can enhance global food security. However, the economic and nutritional value of these crops is significantly compromised by postharvest diseases, presenting major socioeconomic challenges. Postharvest diseases, caused by various fungal and bacterial pathogens, affect crops during field growth, harvest, handling, and storage. Addressing these challenges requires improving several key aspects of disease management that are often lacking in postharvest pathosystems. These aspects include but are not limited to diagnostic methodologies, cultural practices, chemical control, host resistance, and pathogen monitoring, among others. Emerging technologies and strategies from various fields offer promising solutions to these challenges. In this manuscript, we review new approaches to address common challenges in postharvest diseases of sugarbeet and sweetpotato. This review highlights important considerations for the implementation, modification, and creation of new approaches to maintain or increase the value of these commodities, which are threatened by postharvest diseases.}, journal={Plant Disease}, author={Morales, Carlos and Avila, Kelly and Bhatta, Usha and Bill, Malick and Bugingo, Collins and Buitrago-Acosta, Maria Camila and Collins, Hunter and Dangi, Sandesh and Hanson, L. E. and Hendershot, Carly and et al.}, year={2025}, month={Mar} }
 @article{mascarenhas_collins_ahmed_gannon_almeyda_thiessen_huseth_quesada-ocampo_2024, title={Assessing Pesticide Residue Levels in Sweetpotato Roots and Slips Treated with Fungicides for Management of Southern Blight and Circular Spot Disease Caused by <i>Agroathelia rolfsii</i>}, volume={4}, url={https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-04-24-0849-RE}, DOI={10.1094/PDIS-04-24-0849-RE}, abstractNote={Since 1971, North Carolina (NC) has been the leading sweetpotato-producing state in the United States and is now producing more than half of the nation’s annual output. Because of the high demand for U.S. sweetpotatoes from international markets, NC allocates roughly 40% of its sweetpotatoes for export. However, low fungicide residue limits in primary export markets restrict the ability for NC producers to apply fungicides for disease management during sweetpotato production. Agroathelia rolfsii, the causal agent of southern blight and circular spot, is an important pathogen of sweetpotato. Field experiments were conducted in 2022 and 2023 to quantify the residue amount of various active ingredients and transplant-only versus bedding and transplant applications when managing A. rolfsii in the field. High-performance liquid chromatography analyses of root and vine samples confirmed that none of the tested active ingredients and application timings resulted in residue numbers exceeding the limits of export markets except for roots treated with thiabendazole. Results from this study provide information for development of application practices with acceptable residue levels for export markets while effectively managing diseases caused by A. rolfsii.}, journal={Plant Disease}, author={Mascarenhas, Jack and Collins, Hunter and Ahmed, Khalied and Gannon, Travis and Almeyda, Christie and Thiessen, Lindsey and Huseth, Anders and Quesada-Ocampo, Lina Maria}, year={2024}, month={Oct} }