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UCANR electronic extension journal previously published as "Strawberries and Vegetables"
strawberry fields forever
A sustainable way of producing strawberries using the new IPM model
Surendra K. Dara
Published on: August 11, 2019
Strawberry field

A strawberry field in Nipomo (Photo by Surendra Dara)

The traditional Integrated Pest Management (IPM) model is focused on maintaining ecological balance in the cropping system with some attention to the economics of pest management related to the yield losses.  The new model, recently published in the Journal of Integrated Pest Management, is more comprehensive covering the management, business, and sustainability aspects of pest management and discusses various components within (Dara, 2019).  IPM, according to the new model, can be defined as an approach to managing pests in an economically viable, socially acceptable, and environmentally safe manner.

New IPM Model

New IPM model from Dara, 2019

Nuevo modelo MIP

Spanish translation by Otto Rivera, Partners of the Americas Guatemala Farmer-to-Farmer Program

Based on the information generated by several studies in California and other reports, here is how the new IPM model can be adapted for producing strawberries sustainably.

1. MANAGEMENT ASPECT

A. Pest Management: The term “pest” includes arthropod pests, diseases, and weeds and the management includes the various practices used to suppress them.

  • Select varieties that produce good yields while resisting biotic and abiotic stresses. 
  • Choosing the right mulch and good irrigation and nutrient management contribute to good plant growth and health.  Micro-sprinklers save water and hold pest management benefits.
  • Explore the potential of beneficial microbes and biostimulants to improve nutrient and water absorption and to maintain crop health.  Inoculate the transplants with biostimulants to induce systemic resistance and periodically apply, especially after fumigation, to improve the beneficial microbial activity in the soil.
  • Healthy plants resist pest problems and reduce the need for control options.  Plant health can be maintained through good cultural practices (biostimulants, nutrients, irrigation, soil conditioning, etc.).
  • Predatory mites effectively control twospotted and Lewis mites, but natural enemy populations may not be sufficient to control the western tarnished plant bug.
  • Light traps can be useful for managing lepidopteran pests.
  • Tractor-mounted vacuums can be a part of the IPM program for managing the western tarnished plant bug, but their pest control efficiency is not necessarily superior to other strategies and are not without some associated risks.  For example, operation of vacuums requires fossil fuels and they are used at a much higher frequency than pesticide applications.
  • Use botanical, microbial, and chemical pesticides in combination.  Combinations can improve pest control efficacy and rotations reduce the risk of resistance development.
  • Rotating strawberries with crops such as broccoli can reduce the severity of certain soilborne diseases.  
Bug vacuum

Bug vacuums are operated multiple times each week to aspirate western tarnished plant bugs

B. Knowledge and Resources:

  • Understand pest biology, vulnerable stages of the pest, and appropriate strategies for each pest, different life stages, season, and budget.  For example, relying on natural enemies for the western tarnished plant bug control is not effective and can lead to higher pest damage. 
  • Accurately identify the issue through visual observation or laboratory diagnosis for proper corrective action.
  • Try to explore modern technology to monitor crop health.

C. Planning and Organization:

  • Regularly monitor crop health for early detection and prevention of potential pest problems.  For example, thorough scouting to determine the level of western tarnished plant bug infestation is very important for making the treatment decision.  Deformed fruit is not always an indicator for the treatment threshold as nearly 1/3 of the fruit deformity occurs from environmental and other causes not related to the western tarnished plant bug.
  • Look for signs of pesticide resistance and use appropriate strategies to reduce the risk.
  • Maintain records of pest occurrence, seasonal trends, strategies that worked, and all relevant information, to build institutional knowledge for future use.
  • Take the right action at the right time.

D. Communication:

  • Regularly attend extension events and read research updates.  Choose or design practices that are ideal for your farm based on the research updates.
  • Periodically provide training to all individuals on the farm who directly or indirectly contribute to good agriculture practices.
  • Share good management practices with each other for area-wide improvement of crop production and pest management.
  • Try to educate the public so that they make better choices when purchasing produce.  For example, good IPM practices can be more sustainable than organically approved practices and well-informed consumers can make a choice among conventional, organic, or sustainably produced grains, fruits, and vegetables.  Public education can also help to eliminate otherwise good produce that is discarded because of minor imperfections.  In strawberry, fruit deformity is caused due to the feeding of the western tarnished plant bug, genetic factors, poor pollination, or very low temperatures.  Although most of the deformed strawberries, especially those from insect damage, have equal quality as marketable strawberries, they are discarded because of their shape.  If the consumer market can accept deformed strawberries that still have good taste and nutritional quality, it can significantly reduce the wastage and the amount of pesticides sprayed to control the western tarnished plant bug.
Unmarketable, but consumable strawberries

Deformed, but consumable, strawberries such as these are discarded (Photo by Surendra Dara)

2. BUSINESS ASPECT

  • A strong IPM program can help growers produce sustainably while ensuring profitability.
  • Consumer choices depend on their knowledge of sustainable agriculture.  When they understand that produce with an IPM or Sustainably Produced label is safe for human and environmental health, it will have a major impact on food production systems.

3. SUSTAINABILITY ASPECT

  • The current interpretation or perception of sustainability does not reflect true sustainability in terms of environmental health, profitability, food security, social equality, and other elements.  A good IPM model can address all these issues to ensure farm productivity, food affordability, and environmental safety.

RESEARCH and OUTREACH

  • Research and outreach component is the foundation of IPM to identify pest issues, develop appropriate knowledge for their management, and effectively disseminate the related information.  Supporting research and outreach efforts of universities and other entities is essential for continuing IPM.

References

In addition to the below references, there are several articles in this eJournal on crop production and protection topics related to strawberry.  

  • Download “Biology and management of spider mites in strawberry” in English and Spanish at http://ucanr.edu/spidermiteguide or scan the QR code.  Information about different species of spider mites and predatory mites is available in this guide.
Focus Areas:
Focus Area Tags: Agriculture, Innovation, Pest Management
Tags: integrated disease management (2), integrated pest management (3), Integrated Pest Management Systems (1), IPM (12), strawberry (13), sustainable agriculture (4), Sustainable Food Systems (2)
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Improving tomato yield with nutrient materials containing microbial and botanical biostimulants
Surendra K. Dara
Published on: June 6, 2019
Tomato transplanting

Transplanting tomatoes

There has been a growing interest in the recent years in exploring the potential of biostimulants in crop production.  Biostimulants are mineral, botanical, or microbial materials that stimulate natural processes in plants, help them tolerate biotic and abiotic stressors, and improve crop growth and health.  Several recent studies demonstrated the potential of the biostimulant or soil amendments in improving crop yields and health.  For example, in a 2017 field study, silicon, microbial, botanical and nutrient materials improved processing tomato yields by 27 to 32% compared to the standard fertility program (Dara and Lewis, 2018).  In a 2017-2018 strawberry field study, some biostimulant and soil amendment products resulted in a 13-16% increase in marketable fruit yield compared to the grower standard (Dara and Peck, 2018).  He et al. (2019) evaluated three species of Bacillus and Pseudomonas putida alone and in different combinations in tomatoes grown in laboratory and greenhouse.  The combination of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, B. pumilus, and P. putida increased the plant biomass and the root/shoot ratio.  Significant increase in fruit yield, between 18 and 39%, was also achieved from individual or co-inoculations of these bacteria.  A field study was conducted in processing tomato to evaluate the impact of nutrient products containing beneficial microbes and botanical extracts on tomato yields and fruit quality.

Tomato field 2018
Tomato plots - each treatment is marked by a colored flag

Methodology

The study was conducted from late spring to fall of 2018 to evaluate three treatment programs compared to the grower standard.  Tomato cultivar Quali T27 was seeded on 25 April and transplanted on 19 June using a mechanical transplanter.  Due to high temperatures at the time of planting, some transplants died and they were re-planted on 28 June.  Herbicide Matrix was applied on 5 July and Poast was applied on 13 July followed by hand weeding on 27 July.  Crop was irrigated, fertigated, and treatements were applied through a drip system.  Overhead sprinkler irrigation was additionally used immediately after transplanting.  The following treatments were included in the study:

1. Grower standard: 10-34-0 Ammonium Polyphosphate Solution was applied at 10 gal/ac at the time of transplanting followed by the application of UAN-32 Urea Ammonium Nitrate Solution 32-0-0 at the rate of 15 units of N at 3, 6, and 13 weeks after planting and 25 units of N at 7 weeks after planting.

2. Grower standard + BiOWiSH Crop 16-40-0: BiOWiSH Crop 16-40-0 contains 16% nitrogen and 40% phosphate along with B. amyloliquefaciens, B. licheniformis, B. pumilus, and B. subtilis at 1X108 cfu/gram.  Crop 16-40-0 was applied at 1 lb/ac at the time of planting followed by the application 0.5 lb/ac at 3, 6, and 9 weeks after planting.

3. Grower standard 85% + BiOWiSH Crop 16-40-0: Crop 16-40-0 was applied at the same rate and frequency as in treatment 2, but the grower standard was reduced to 85%.

4. RootRx: RootRx contains 5% soluble potash and proprietary botanical extracts and is supposed to stimulate a broad range of antioxidant compounds in the plant.  It was applied at 0.25 gal/ac at the time of planting followed by the application of 0.5 gal/ac at 3, about 7, and 13 weeks after planting.

Each treatment contained 30' long bed with a single row of tomato plants and replicated five times in a randomized complete block design.  Along with the fruit yield, the sugar content of the fruit and leaves [using a refractometer from three fruits (two measurements from each) and four leaves per plot], chlorophyll content (using a digital chlorophyll meter from four leaves per plot), and frost damage levels (using a visual rating on a 0 to 5 scale where 0 = no frost damage and 5 = extreme frost damage with a complete plant death) were also monitored.  Due to an unknown reason, some plants in the fifth replication were stunted halfway through the study.  Data from the fifth replication were excluded from the analysis.  Data were subjected to the analysis of variance using Statistix software and significant means were separated using the Tukey's HSD test. 

Results

Fruit yield: Marketable and unmarketable fruit yield was monitored from 27 August to 13 November.  Seasonal total for marketable fruit was significantly (P = 0.04) different among the treatments where RootRx resulted in a 26.5% increase over the grower standard while Crop 16-4-0 with the full rate of the grower standard had an 8%, and with 85% of the grower standard had a 13.2% increase.  It appeared that a similar improved yield response was also seen when Crop 16-40-0 was used at a reduced rate of the grower standard in other studies conducted by the manufacturer.

Seasonal yield
Seasonal yield
Percent change in yield

Sugar content: Sugar content of the fruit and leaves was measured once after the last harvest and there were no significant (P > 0.05) difference among the treatments.

Chlorophyll content: Chlorophyll content was measured once after the last harvest and there was no significant (P > 0.05) difference among the treatments.

Frost damage: Study was concluded after frosty conditions in November 2018 damaged the crop.  Although there were no statistically significant (P > 0.05) differences, plants treated with RootRx had the lowest rating of 2.

Means and standard errors of the measured parameters
Sugar and chlorophyll content and frost damage rating
 

Acknowledgements: Thanks to Jenita Thinakaran and the field staff at the Shafter Research Station for their technical assistance, Plantel Nurseries for providing transplants, and BiOWiSH Technologies and Redox Chemicals for their financial support.

References

Dara, S. K. and D. Peck.  2018.  Microbial and bioactive soil amendments for improving strawberry crop growth, health, and fruit yields: a 2017-2018 study.  UCANR eJournal of Entomology and Biologicals (https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=27891)

Dara, S. K. and E. Lewis.  2018.  Impact of nutrient and biostimulant materials on tomato crop health and yield.  UCANR eJournal of Entomology and Biologicals (https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=26054)

He. Y., H. A. Pantigoso, Z. Wu, and J. M. Vivanco.  2019.  Co-inoculation of Bacillus sp. and Pseudomonas putida at different development stages acts as a biostimulant to promote growth, yield and nutrient uptake of tomato.  J. Appl. Microbiol.  https://doi.org/10.1111/jam.14273

Tags: biologicals (4), Biostimulants (4), crop health (1), nutrient management (5), Nutrient Relationships (1), Plant (1), Soil (1), soil amendment (2), sustainable agriculture (4), Sustainable Food Systems (2), tomato (2), Tomatoes - Processing (2), Water (1)
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