IPM makes progress , enemies advancing on pests BELTSViLLE, Md. - In tegrated pest management (IPM) is making good progress m America, according to Lloyd Knutson, a leading U.S. Depart ment of Agriculture insect scientist. Speaking recently at the First Japan-USA Symposium on IPM, Knutson said that IPM progress is due to advances by scientists who explore the world, and never roam far from a microscope. He spoke of entomologists who learn to control pests of the farm and forest by using the pests’ natural enemies their parasites, predators and diseases. T&tural enemies and other biological control techniques are the "foundation" of IPM, said Knutson. Scientists developed the IPM.concept in recent years to give people alternatives to relying soley on pest control by chemical pesticides. - Integrated pest management is literally just that, an integration of any available pest control angle, usually including close monitoring ot pests in the held, cultural practices such as a timely plowing, biocontrols, and limited use of pesticides. "We are only beginning to build our natural enemy foundation. Yet,, IPM is already a proven technology in America, used to control pests ot cotton, alfalfa, soybeans, sorghum, com and apples,” Knutson said at the IPM Symposium, which was held in Tsukuka, Japan’s “science city.” Knutson is Chairman of USDA’s insect identification and Beneficial insect introduction institute in Beltsville, where nearly a third of a million insects and mites are identified each year for biological control projects and other Research. The use of ‘natural enemies for controlling pests, said Knutson, is a cost-effective, low-energy way to increase agricultural production. Also, natural enemies, when carefully selected, pose no hazard to the environment. Research on natural enemies takes two roads at the same tune. For a particularly troublesome pest, scientists first idientify those natural enemies found with the pest in the field. Then, steps are taken to conserve the in-field enemies. More discretion may be taken in spraying pesticides, for instance. The other research road is to import natural enemies from other parts of the country or world. Effective r imports” are often found in areas where the pest first became a pest. For example, USDA scientists found aggressive parasitic mites of the Mexican bean beetle in parts of Central Ohio study WOOSTER, Ohio - A study by Ohio agronomists has confirmed that alfalfa plants appear to contain some sort of organic compound or compounds that may prevent or inhibit germination of - seed of their own species. This helps explain why efforts to use sod-seeding techniques to renovate old alfalfa fields have frequently met with little success. Paul Henderlong, a research agronomist for the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center and Ohio State, reported the research today during technical sessions at the American Society of Agronomy annual meeting. in fall 1980, Henderlong and America. Before any natural enemy is imported, studies are conducted under strict quarantine to make sure the imported creatures harm only the target pest. Knutson said in Japan that an advantage of using natural enemies over using other control methods is that the effectiveness of a pest’s enemy often increases as populations of the pest increases. Because the natural enemy, say a , parasitic mite, feeds on a pest such as a beetle, the mites may multiply faster than the beetles. A point is reached when the mite population overwhelms the beetle population, causing both to crash. ' Because success means the near disappearance of both pest an enemy, scientists can have dif ficulty proving successful control by natural enemies. However, there are good success stories. Knutson said that two of the best are control of cereal leaf beetles reveals alfalfa seeding failure clue graduate research associate Hwei- Yiing Li collected samples of established alfalfa both before and after fall dormancy. Five-year-old plants were replanted in a greenhouse and samples of leaves, stems, crowns, and roots were collected from other plants in the same field. Li prepared straight water extractions from leaf, stem, and crown plus root tissues and let the extractions incubate for various lengths of time. The water ex tractions were then applied in various concentrations to media used for standard laboratory germination tests of alfalfa seed. The water extractions prepared from both fresh and dried alfalfa Lancaster Farming, Thursday, December 24,1981—A13 and allalta weevils by natural because ot the complex behavior enemies discovered and :• ported and ecology of living entities. We by USUA entomologists. ' first must determine the USDA's Agricultural Research vulnerabilities of a pest. Then, Service t, which includes Knutson's each new bio control agent, Institute) does more biocontrol requires a unique set of in-the-field research than any other Federal procedures, agency. However, only about 170 Using IPM on the farm, often ARS scientists are involved with takes a lot of tune, special biocontrol work, Knutson said, knowledge, and a high initial risk many only part tune. Those not financially, Knutson said, tracking down natural enemies are “However, now that IPM is developing “biorational” becoming a proven-option, and techniques to disrupt the life cycles there is more IPM-related of target pests. For example, st- research m the works, what we erjle males are sometimes used to need today is a crew of well disrupt reproduction, or insect trained IPM specialists to make juvenile hormones are synthesized IPM more available to the average to prevent puberty. farmer.” Knutson said that despite suc cesses already achieved, progress in putting IPM to work tab seemed slow at times. “Much of the foundation work, the research on natural enemies, has not reached the farm. Each biological control agent required considerable study plants inhibited germination even have often been unsuccessful, at the very low dosage rates. The Ohio scientist said studies Agronomists have observed a are now underway to characterize number of cases where one plant the compound or compounds produces compounds which ad- responsible for autotoxicity in versely affect another species, alfalfa. Whatever is responsible is This phenomenon is known as water soluble and while present in "alieopathy.” However, when an all plant parts, is more prevalent established plant produces a m leaves and stems than in crowns compound or compounds which and roots, adversely affect plants of its own The no-tillage and sod-seeding species (self toxic), the methods of renovating pastures phenomenon is labeled and hayfields probably should not "autotoxicity.” be used to rejuvenate established The autotixicity of alfalfa helps alfalfa stands with new alfalfa explain why efforts to sod-seed seed. It appears that successful, alfalfa into deteriorating or reestablishment of alfalfa may thinned stands or even seeding require some sort of crop rotation alfalfa in fields where an old to assure that new alfalfa seeding alfalfa stand “en plowed up follows some crop other than alfalfa. 32>f]^r May your Christmas Day shine as brightly with many joyous - moments! PENN DUTCH FARM SYSTEMS, INC. 1730 Highway 72 North Lebanon, PA 17042 Jil V l 5OO STATE STREET, IttA CAMP HILL, PA 17011 PHONE (717) 761-1863 . SEASONS r GREETINGS From All Of Us At Penn Dutch Farm Systems •EASILY INSTALLED
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