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What kind of prices
are you anticipating
for your produce
this year?
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California celery growers save on pesticides using IPM
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John Trumble, professor of entomology at University of California, Riverside, has been working with growers for years on developing Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices. With help from UC, California celery growers have managed to cut their pesticide use in half in the last 10 or 15 years, he said.
There were 128 farms growing celery in California in 2007, according to the latest ag census.
The state has three main growing regions: Oxnard-Ventura, Salinas and the desert area around Coachella. Most California celery is sold fresh, with a small percentage going to processing, said J.D. Allen, manager of the California Celery Research Advisory Board.
According to the board’s pest management strategic plan, roughly 25,000 acres of celery are harvested every year in California – accounting for more than 85 percent of national production. The average yield is 30-34 tons per acre, with an average gross value of $8,000 to $10,000 per acre. California produces celery year round, with about a third of the crop grown for the Thanksgiving and holiday markets.
Celery growers have bought into IPM. Gerry Benson, production manager for Duda Farm Fresh Foods’ Oxnard operation, said the insecticides used in the past were all broad-spectrum, whereas the insecticides used today are more targeted.
“The key to IPM is the conservation of beneficials,” he said. “We’re always using the least disruptive alternative.”
Steve Donovan, who manages the Deardorff Family Farms operation in Oxnard, uses the softest pesticides possible – and has learned when and when not to spray them. For example, they used to spray Lannate early in the season to control worms, but the Lannate also was killing leafminer predators, leading to an explosion in the leafminer population. They stopped using Lannate during the first six weeks of the growing season, he said, which slowed down their leafminer problem.
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Alton N. Sparks Jr.
Extension Entomologist, University of Georgia
You’re part of a research project that’s trying to find pest management solutions for thrips and tomato spotted wilt virus in tomatoes and peppers in the Southeast. Can you characterize the nature of the problem you’re trying to solve?
Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) can be a devastating disease in these crops. Prior to development of good management tactics, it was not uncommon for some fields to experience greater than 50 percent yield reductions. While multiple tactics are available to help manage this disease, most producers currently rely on resistant varieties. Unfortunately, current resistance in each crop relies on a single source; thus, if the virus changes to overcome the current resistance, we will lose all resistance at a single time.
Can you describe the project in more detail? What’s the ultimate goal?
The current project is evaluating all current management tactics to identify their potential contributions to disease reduction. In addition, we are conducting field evaluations of new sources of resistance and evaluating a predictive model for severity of TSWV. The hope is that the model (with local weather data inputs) will provide a prediction of potential severity of TSWV in an area. This would allow a producer to better utilize various management tactics (in severe years they may need to integrate all tactics while in mild years they may get by with fewer inputs). Selection of tactics is important, as each tactic contributes to reduction in virus, but may also carry some negative characteristic (e.g. reflective mulch reduces virus but prevents soil warming resulting in slower plant growth).
The ultimate goal is to provide growers with an improved set of tools and directions for economical management of TSWV.
Who are the researchers? What area does the project cover?
The project involves scientists from University of Georgia, North Carolina State University, Clemson University and University of Florida.
Where is the funding coming from?
USDA-RAMP (Risk Avoidance and Mitigation Program).
Where are you at in the study? What more needs to be done?
We are in the first season of this four-year project.
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Events Calendar
June 11
Illinois Summer Horticulture Field Day
Royal Oak Farm Orchard, Harvard, Ill.
Don Naylor, 309-530-7678, ilsthortsoc@yahoo.com
June 13
2009 Annual Field Day
Lane-Ag Center, Lane, Okla.
mtaylor-okstate@lane-ag.org, www.lane-ag.org
June 14-15
The Michigan Food Processors Association 104th Annual Meeting
Shanty Creek Resort, Bellaire, Mich.
K. Terry Morrison, 231-271-5752, mfpa@centurytel.net
Click here to view more calendar listings...
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