Manager of the Laboratory

Dr., Senior Researcher Alma VALIUŠKAITĖ

tel.: +370 37 555 217; E-mail: a.valiuskaite@lsdi.lt

entomology, plant protection, GEP research, horticulture, plant diseases

Workers:

Trends of scientific investigations of Plant Protection Laboratory

The main trends of scientific investigations of orchard plant protection:

Investigations of varieties, prevalence, development, harmfulness, biology, ecology of orchard plant pests and diseases and protection means and methods.
Development of pest and disease prognostication systems applying prognostication equipment. These systems allow maximal reducing the use of pesticides without significant harm to yield.
Investigations of the use of predatory mites and insects for plant protection.
Investigations of the new pesticides, harmless to human health and environment. This allows more dangerous substances of pesticides to substitute partly for less harmful.
Investigations of the use of ecological protection means with the main objection to sponsor the growing of cultures not applying or applying small amounts of pesticides.
Investigations of pests and diseases in more rare but perspective cultures.
Biological investigations of relatively new pests and diseases, which appear under the change of agroclimate.

The main trends of scientific investigations of vegetable protection:

To observe the prevalence and development of diseases and pests.
To clear up the reasons of the rise of epiphytoties and to create the model of disease prognostication in order to apply timely protection means.
To develop the technologies of the use of chemical, biological and microbiological means.
To investigate the efficiency of pickling, fungicide and insecticide application.
To analyze the composition of pathogen types, their structure and prevalence and to evaluate their role in plant pathogenesis. To continue registration experiments of pesticides, harmless to human health and environment.
To develop ecological agriculture.
To improve the integrated plant protection system from pests and diseases.

GEP certified investigation

Lithuanian Institute of Horticulture is one of the institutions, in which registration experiments are carried out. Certificate of good experimental practice (GEP), which grants the right to carry out registration experiments of biological efficiency of plant protection means in orchard and garden plants, was given to Plant Protection Laboratory in 2001. From that time all experiments of pesticide biological efficiency are conducted according to GEP requirements, which guarantee high quality of experiments and the recognition of the obtained data in the other countries of European Union.

Themes of investigations

Themes of investigation of orchard plants

To develop economically founded technologies of cultivation and supervision of intensive dwarf and semi-dwarf orchards in newly cultivated and reconstructed orchards.
To analyze and to evaluate economically orchard constructions and methods of formation under Lithuanian agroclimatic conditions; to create the models of intensive orchards:
Investigations of Jonagold clones with stock M9; 2003-2007; D. Kviklys, N. Kviklienė, N. Uselis, A. Valiuškaitė.
Influence of planting material quality on apple tree development and productivity; 2003-2007; D. Kviklys, J. Stankienė, A. Valiuškaitė.
To create and to found economically the intensive technologies of berry growing for the farms of various specialization:
To investigate the influence of the mechanized harvesting on the growth and yielding of berry plants, to select the proper cultivars, to optimize the yielding of currants; 2004-2008; A. Sasnauskas, L. Buskienė, A. Valiuškaitė.
Development of technologies of strawberry growing in unseasonal period.
- investigation of desert strawberry growing methods in greenhouses, using shoots “frigo”; 2002-2005; N. Uselis, J. Lanauskas, P. Viškelis, P. Duchovskis, A. Valiuškaitė, A. Brazaitytė.
To create the integrated protection system of orchard plants from diseases, pests and weeds, to expand the investigations of pesticides, which are little harmful to environment
· To create the integrated protection system to extremely intensive orchards of dwarf apple trees. *2001-2005; A. Valiuškaitė, L. Raudonis
· Evaluation of apple tree protection from wart and pests with signaler of prognostication. 1999-2004; L. Raudonis, A. Valiuškaitė
· Investigation of the integrated apple tree protection against pests; 2003-2007; L. Raudonis
· To create the integrated protection system of stone-fruit orchard plants from diseases and pests; 2000-2005; A. Valiuškaitė, L. Raudonis
· Investigation of the harmfulness of diseases and pests to raspberries and preparation of the system of protection means; 2000-2004; A. Valiuškaitė
· Improvement of the system of protection means against diseases and pests in marketable currant plantations; 2004-2008; A. Valiuškaitė
· To investigate the efficiency of the new, little harmful to environment pesticides in orchards and berry plantations; *2004; L. Raudonis, A. Valiuškaitė
To create the technologies of ecological fruit and berry growing, suitable under Lithuanian agroclimatic conditions
development of protection system against pests for ecological apple tree orchards; *2004; A. Valiuškaitė, L. Raudonis

Themes of vegetable investigations

Investigations of reproduction features of vegetable cultivars and lines ex situ and in vitro*
· To investigate disease prevalence and their development in seed stalks of vegetable cultivars and lines (2003-2006); A. Šidlauskienė
· Investigations of seed stalk quality and micobiote of vegetable cultivars and lines (2003-2006); A. Šidlauskienė

To create the methods, which accelerate selection, and the new technologies of seed growing and seed processing
· To create the effective methods and technologies of seed preparation (2001-2004); E. Survilienė

To improve the integrated vegetable protection system against diseases and pests
· Prognostication of the diseases caused by funguses of genus Alternaria in field vegetables (2003-2006); A. Šidlauskienė
· The influence of micromycetes, which cause roots, on vegetable quality and investigation of effective protection means (2003-2005); E. Survilienė
· Investigations of biology of onion vegetable pests and protection means (2003-2005); L. Duchovskienė
· To investigate the efficiency of the new, little harmful to environment pesticides on field and greenhouse vegetables* (from 1997); E. Survilienė, A. Šidlauskienė, L. Duchovskienė
· Biology of the pathogens of vegetable downy mildews (peronosporoses) and prognostication of the diseases they cause (2003-2006); V. Bandzevičiūtė
· Investigation of the integrated protection system of the greenhouse tomatoes using biomethod, regulation of microclimate and entomophily* (2004-2005); E. Survilienė

Investigations of the integrated growing of root vegetables and modeling of technologies in order to decrease energetic and work expenditures and to improve production quality
· Investigations of the influence of calcium ammonium saltpetre and calcium ammonium saltpetre processed by ceolyte and ceolyte on carrot and beet productivity, quality and storability (2004-2006); A. Šidlauskienė
· Investigations of the efficiency of additional fertilization with soluble fertilizers of nitroboron, nutriphol brown and nutriphol green on carrot and beet yield, quality and storability (2004-2006); A. Šidlauskienė
· Investigations of the efficiency of additional fertilization with various boron fertilizers on beet yield, quality and storability (2004-2006); A. Šidlauskienė

To optimize the mineral nutrition of ecologically and integrate grown field vegetables and to investigate the influence on soil productivity, physical and chemical properties
· Influence of vegetable ecological growing schemes and density on yield quantity and quality (2003-2006); E. Survilienė
· Investigation of the use of liquid ecological fertilizers Biokal for plant growth stimulation (2003-2006); E. Survilienė

* - investigations are financed form other sources

Projects

Priority project is financed by Lithuanian State Fund of Science and Studies:
Scientific program – Regularities of micotoksines accumulation in food and creation of preventive protection means (LVMSF registration No. C-03003) (2003-2006); E. Survilienė, A. Valiuškaitė, A. Šidlauskienė, M. Rubinskienė
Scientific investigations financed by Lithuanian State Fund of Science and Studies:
Raspberry (Rubus spp.): monitoring of phytopathogens and pests; 2004, investigation was carried out together with Institute of Botany; research adviser dr. Alma Valiuškaitė (LIH). Executors: dr. Laimutis Raudonis (LIH); dr. Dalia Radaitienė (IB); dr. Audrius Kačergius (IB).

Services

Scientists of Plant Protection Laboratory maintain close relations with Lithuanian vegetable growers, regularly present plant protection recommendations, actively take part preparing and publishing List of Pesticides, organize excursions to farms, organize plant protection seminars, constantly consult on the urgent plant protection problems.