- Author: Cheryl Reynolds
New Pesticide Resistance Online Course with Continuing Education Units
Author: Cheryl Reynolds, UC Statewide IPM Program
An online course highlighting how pesticide resistance develops among pests is now available on the UC IPM Web site. Created primarily for pest control advisors and other licensed pesticide applicators, this course describes the mechanisms of resistance in pathogens, insects, and weeds and discusses ways to manage resistance within the different disciplines.
The online course is divided into three narrated presentations followed by a final test for each section. This course has been approved for 2 continuing education units in the “Other” category from the Department of Pesticide Regulation.
This course is based on a series of workshops held in Davis, Fresno, and at the Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center during the spring of 2014 presented by Dr. Doug Gubler (Dept. of Plant Pathology, UC Davis.), Dr. Larry Godfrey (Dept. of Entomology and Nematology, UC Davis), Dr. Beth Grafton-Cardwell (Lindcove Research and Extension Center and UC Riverside), and Dr. Kassim All-Khatib (UC Statewide IPM Program).
Check out the new course at http://www.ipm.ucanr.edu/training/pesticide_resistance.html.
- Author: Ben Faber
The UC IPM Green Bulletin is a very useful guide to many things pest, weed and disease management. The latest edition is now out.
Check it out. www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/greenbulletin
WHAT'S INSIDE…
Pest Note Updates | Page 2
Understanding Neem- | Page 3
based Pesticides
The Good Side of | Page 4
Pruning
Ask the Expert! | Page 6
SIGN UP…for a free subscription to the Green Bulletin at http://ucanr.edu/subscribegreenbulletin
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/span>- Author: Ben Faber
Gary Bender has made his manual on avocado production available on his website. And it's free. Take a look at it to see if you might be missing something in your orchard:
http://ucanr.edu/sites/alternativefruits/?story=237&showall=yes
- Author: Ben Faber
In many ways our pest and disease management of fruit tree crops are exacerbated by our cultural practices. Avocado and citrus offer some very clear demonstrations of how we manage our trees can lead to reduced pesticide use. From the beginning, our selection of rootstock and scion can help lessen pest and disease problems. In both avocado and citrus we have good rootstocks which can handle problems, such as root rot more effectively than seedling rootstocks. So it is imperative that if you know that drainage will be a problem, starting off with the right, healthy rootstock helps. Also scion selection can have a major impact, as well. For example, ‘Lamb’ avocado is much less prone to persea mite than is ‘Hass’. This pest can significantly impact a spray program and planting ‘Lamb’ could mean virtually no sprays for this pest. There are similar examples in citrus where one variety is more prone to a pest or disease than another.
Irrigation is probably the most important cultural factor in managing tree disease. Over, under and improperly timed irrigations are the conditions necessary for many root diseases. The Phytophthora spp. fungi are looking for distressed root systems brought on by waterlogging and other stressful situations. Other conditions, such as wetted trunks can also bring on some trunk diseases, like gummosis in citrus and crown rot in avocado. Simply preventing irrigation water on the trunks can limit these diseases. Other diseases, such as black streak, stem blight and bacterial canker in avocado are bought on by soil moisture stress.
Nutrients, especially nitrogen management, has been long known to affect levels of insects, such as scale, mealy bug and aphid. Encouraging lush growth helps sustain these insects, so reducing this growth tends to lower their numbers. Managing when canopy growth occurs can affect pest severity. Avocado thrips build their populations in the spring and moves easily from leaf to fruit causing significant scarring. By promoting leaf growth at flowering time with a nitrogen application, keeps the insect on the leaves and reduces fruit scarring. This also promotes growth that replaces leaves that have been damaged by persea mite. Likewise the incidence of citrus leaf miner damage can be reduced if spring pruning is avoided so that a flush of growth does not occur at the same time as the population is building. Timing of pruning is important in lemons to avoid wet periods of rain and fog to reduce the spread of hyphoderma wood rot fungus when its fruiting bodies are active.
Pruning can change pest pressure by changing the humidity in the canopy, introducing light and changing the climate supporting disease and pests. By making spray coverage more thorough, it also makes for a more effective application. Modified skirt pruning can have significant effects on mealy bug and scale control, fuller rose weevil incidence, ant colonization and snail damage. It’s important that the trunk be protected as an avenue of movement for snail and ant control to get the best effects of this pruning. Skirt pruning also reduces problems with such weeds as bladder pod and the ladder effect of brown rot in citrus – fungal propagules splashed from the ground onto low-hanging fruit, which in turn is splashed to higher fruit.
Keeping a canopy clean of dust and fire ash also makes for more efficient biological control. Because predators are slowed in their search, they are less efficient. They also spend more time grooming their sensory organs, and this also slows them down. Parasites such as wasps are actually slowed by the physical abrasion to their tarsi. Dust also creates a drier environment, which is more hospitable to our pest mites. Watering picking rows, roads and even the trees themselves can lessen mite populations. Use of cover crops can also reduce dust and potentially provide pollen and nectar for predators and parasites. Of course cover crops create a whole new set of management issues, such as colder winter orchards and snails
Finally harvest timing to avoid pest and disease is often overlooked. In avocado, fruit is often set in clusters. Greenhouse thrips love the microclimate created, and if in a size-pick the cluster is reduced, greenhouse thrips will often not be a problem. Harvest timing is also important in citrus. Fruit left too long on the tree can often develop septoria fungal spot. Picking in a timely manner reduces the incidence of this disease.
These are just a few examples of how cultural practice at the right time can reduce pest and disease problems.
- Author: Ben Faber
About the Year-Round IPM Programs
The video tour
Guided tour of the year-round IPM programs for field, orchard, and vineyard crops. (Detailed outlinewith links to examples)
- Introduction (3 min)
- Prevention (3 min)
- Pest identification (4.5 min)
- Monitoring (5 min)
- Management decisions
(6 min) - Management methods
(6.5 min) - Environmental concerns and summary (8 min)
Almond
Guided video tour on how to manage pests using the Almondyear-round IPM program.
- Introduction (2.5 min)
- Dormancy and delayed-dormancy (7 min)
- Bloom to postbloom (7 min)
- Fruit development (8.5 min)
- Harvest and postharvest
(3.5 min) - Pesticide application checklist
(5 min)
A year-round IPM program is an annual plan of action you can use to implement integrated pest management and evaluate its success.
For each season or crop growth stage, these programs highlight the most important pests—insects, mites, weeds, diseases, nematodes, animals—and actions you can take to manage them.
Year-round IPM programs are based on the UC Pest Management Guidelines, the University of California's best information for managing agricultural pests.
A year-round IPM program will help you:
- Eliminate pesticide treatments you don't need
- Minimize risks to water and air
- Protect beneficials and pollinators
A year-round IPM program includes:
- Management activities for key pests at each stage of crop development
- Pointers to key environmental concerns
- Examples of monitoring forms to print and use
- Printable color photo guides to pests and beneficials
- Ways to minimize harm from pesticides
Each year-round IPM program provides links to:
- Pest monitoring instructions and decision thresholds
- Nonchemical and pesticide alternatives for each pest
- Information on pesticide mode of action and impact on beneficials
- A comparison of chemical options and their risks
Natural Resources Conservation Service plans
A year-round IPM program can be the foundation for integrated pest management plans, such as those supported by USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) conservation programs. For more information, contact your local NRCS office.
Figure below. Avocado black streak is a disease that can be managed with irrigation, as described in the Year Round IPM Program for avocado.