Tag Archives: insecticides

Research Shows Importance of Insecticides for Sweet Potato

Posted on by
Reply

North Carolina is the country’s largest sweet potato producing state, totaling nearly half the entire production in the U.S. Wireworms, which live in the soil and feed on sweet potato roots, are the #1 insect enemy of sweet potato growers. Mark Abney, North Carolina State University entomologist, explains what his research has determined about the value of insecticide treatments for wireworm control…

“Abney was part of the multi-state project that ran from 2004-2007 and was designed to document which insects were major pests of sweet potatoes and begin the process of developing comprehensive IPM programs to best manage these pests. … ‘So, growers who don’t treat with an insecticide for wireworm control on sweet potatoes should expect 40 percent or more of their crop to be damaged by wireworms and for 17-20 percent of the crop to be unmarketable,’ he adds.”

Author: Roy Roberson
Title: Wireworm management a must in North Carolina sweet potatoes.
Publication: Southeast Farm Press. 2012. January 11.

Inability to Control Pest Damage Limits U.S. Organic Hop Acreage

Posted on by
Reply

Hops damaged by mites, aphids and mildew are of poor quality and are unacceptable for brewing beer. Only 2% of U.S. hop acres are organic because without the use of synthetic chemical insecticides and fungicides, organic hop growers are extremely vulnerable to having their crop rejected by brewers due to poor quality. This situation is described in the following recent article…

“Demand for organically grown hops from consumers via the brewing industry is on the rise; however, due to high [nitrogen] requirements and severe disease, weed, and arthropod pressures, hops are an extremely difficult crop to grow organically.”

“Disease, fungal infection, and arthropod pests that can damage hop cone quality are controlled by frequent and persistent application of pesticides in conventional hopyards, an option unavailable to organic hop growers. … Due to the direct correlation between quality and price of hops, a crop can be drastically affected by pests and diseases that alter not just the brewing quality but also the aesthetics of the crop as well. Any loss of quality can cause a crop to lose value or be damaged to the point at which it is completely unsalable.”

“The organically certified chemical controls against arthropod pests in organic crop production are limited and generally less stable and effective than their synthetic counterparts due to uncertain efficacy, potential harm to beneficial arthropods, and cost.”

Authors: Samuel F. Turner, et al.
Affiliation: Washington State University Department of Crop and Soil Sciences
Title: Challenges and opportunities for organic hop production in the United States.
Publication: Agronomy Journal. 2011. 3(6):1645-54.

Without Insecticide Sprays, California Olives are Rejected by Food Companies

Posted on by
1

The olive fruit fly is the most significant pest of olives worldwide. The female lays her eggs within the olive and her offspring tunnel through the inside, eating as they go, to reach the surface. This ancient pest was first discovered in California in 1998; insecticide sprays have been necessary to prevent serious damage ever since. In 2011 some California olive growers cut back on their insecticide applications. Bill Krueger, a University of California Cooperative Extension farm adviser, and Cody McCoy, Northern California field manager for Bell-Carter Foods, offered their thoughts on the implications of this decision…

“In 2011 the olive fruit fly numbers were higher than they had been since 2004, Krueger said. … ‘You certainly have to think that the lack of spraying had something to do with it, too. I know one particular case where they just didn’t start spraying early enough, and what we saw there was old damage at harvest,’ he said.”

“McCoy agreed, saying he also saw high OLFF [olive fruit fly] damage in 2011. At one point, nearly three-fourths of the olives delivered to the Bell-Carter production facility showed OLFF damage, he said. The majority of the OLFF damage was concentrated in a few olive samples, McCoy said. But because of the extent of the damage, the fruit was rejected.”

Author: Kathy Coatney
Title: Table olive growers are hoping 2012 will be a better year.
Publication: Ag Alert. February 8, 2012. pp.8-9.