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Alexandra Stone

Academic Wage Appt - Salaried
alex.stone [at] oregonstate.edu

Office: 541-737-5461
Other: (541) 602-4676

I have been investigating the use of the biological control agent commercially available as Contans (Coniothyrium minitans) as a control for white mold of vegetables, especially snap beans grown by processed vegetable growers. This project has been supported by grants from Western SARE, Western Region IPM, and the Oregon Processed Vegetable Commission.

I am working on identifying the cause of cucurbit wilt (with Ken Johnson and the Plant Clinic, OSU Botany and Plant Pathology) and finding solutions to other production problems (fruit rots, storage quality) associated with the production of cucurbit crops (Golden Delicious, other winter squash, cucumbers) in western Oregon. This project is supported by a grant from Western SARE.

I am working with Aaron Heinrich and Dan Sullivan on pH management (in combination with cultural practices and biological control) for suppression of clubroot in crucifers. This project has been supported by grants from OSU Ag Research Foundation and the Oregon Processed Vegetable Commission.

I am working on a project with cooperators in Washington and California in which we are describing soil and pest management practices and functions on long term organic farms as well as working to find solutions to their intractable soil and pest problems. This project is supported by a grant from Western SARE.

In the past I have evaluated cover crops and rotation for their potential to suppress root rot of sweet corn; we have shown that oats are the winter cover crop most consistently suppressive and a four rotation reduced root rot severity. This project was supported by the Oregon Processed Vegetable Commission.

A few years ago I worked with others at OSU and 10 or so of Oregon's most experienced organic vegetable farmers on Ospud, a participatory organic potato research and outreach project - learn more at Participatory Organic Potato Project. This project was supported by Western SARE.

I work with Oregon conventional and organic vegetable farmers on cultural and biological control of plant diseases (corn root rot, bean mold, cucurbit wilt, clubroot) and cover cropping. I also work with the Oregon Processed Vegetable Commission on its sustainability initiative, with a current focus on wildife habitat conservation on Willamette Valley farms.

I lead http://oregonvegetables.com  and am a leadership team member of eOrganic, the Organic Agriculture resource area for eXtension. Find us at http://eOrganic.info and http://eXtension.org/organic_production.

I produced Weed 'Em and Reap, which is a 2-DVD series of videos highlighting farmers and researchers working on non-chemical weed management and reduced tillage strategies. You can find all of the Weed 'em and Reap videos at  http://oregonvegetables.com  and at eOrganic's YouTube site.