

Areawide IPM Project a
Success for Northwest OrchardsBy Kathryn Barry
Stelljes October 4, 1999WAPATO, Wash., Oct. 4--Nearly one-third of Washington States
apple and pear orchards now rely on nonchemical pest management tools, thanks
to a 5-year USDA-sponsored research program
targeting codling moths and other pests, Agricultural Research Service administrator
Floyd P. Horn announced today. "Young codling moths are the infamous 'worms in the apple,'" said
Horn. "But growers and scientists together have shown that integrated pest
management can rein them in and use about two-thirds less insecticide. Now, as
was intended at the program's start, scientists are ready to turn the mechanics
of the program over to growers. "Some apple and pear growers using the IPM approach have not sprayed
for moths or for any other orchard pest in two years," he noted. 
The Codling Moth Areawide Suppression Program
was set up by USDAs Agricultural Research Service in 1994. It relies on
ARS- and university-developed technology for confusing the moths with sex
attractants, or pheromones, so they cannot find a mate. This tactic is
supplemented with intensive monitoring and limited pesticide spraying. Without control, codling moths could destroy 80 percent of the
northwest apple crop and half the pear crop, said Horn. More than half
the nations commercial apples come from Washington. Normally, growers sprayed up to six times per year for codling moth, and
four to six more times for leafrollers, aphids and other secondary pests. This
meant using about 2 million pounds of insecticides annually at a cost of $60 to
$150 per acre. Overall, pesticide use has been reduced by at least 70 percent. "We started the 5-year program with 5 sites and 68 participants
encompassing 3,000 acres," said Carrol Calkins, research leader at the ARS
Yakima Agricultural Research
Laboratory in Wapato, Wash. "Since then, 17 more sites were
established for one year to get other growers started. Mating disruption is now
used on at least 60,000 acres in Washington and another 8,000 acres of orchards
in California, Colorado and Oregon.
Calkins coordinates the cooperative project,
which includes researchers at Washington State
University in Pullman, Oregon State
University in Corvallis and the University of California in Berkeley. More growers are expected to join in, now that key pesticides like methyl
parathion (Penncap-M) and azinphos-methyl (Guthion) are being eliminated or
greatly restricted next year by the Food Quality Protection Act. "Initially," Calkins said, "the IPM mating disruption
strategy cost more than using pesticides. But now, with widespread
participation and new dispensers, IPM costs less. It works better, too." Studies by Calkins and ARS colleagues at Wapato showed that using commercial
insecticides can still leave one or two percent of the apples damaged by
insects. With IPM, that drops to less than one percent, in some cases as low as
one apple in 10,000, he said. This program proves that IPM can give growers a viable option to
strictly chemical pest control--if they get together and make it happen over a
large area, said Horn. Other ARS-funded IPM programs are underway to control corn rootworms, the
rangeland weed leafy spurge and insects in grain storage bins. Scientific contact: Carrol O. Calkins, ARS
Yakima Agricultural Research
Laboratory, 5230 Konnowac Pass Road, Wapato, WA 98951; phone (509)
454-6550, fax (509) 454-5646, [email protected]. U.S. Department of Agriculture | |