A34-Lancaster Firming, Saturday, August 19,1989
PDA And Penn State
(Contlnuad from Pag* A 1)
-- Plant disease control
$15,967.
- Control of the apple bud moth
$18,031.
-- Crop management $35,088.
-- Fruit and vegetable post
harvest loss $83,628.
NEW PROJECTS
-- Biological controls for
mushroom diseases $32,222.
- survey of integrated pest
management $30,375.
Potato blight
$20,203.
- Biological control of leaf dis
eases $27,256.
- Integrated weed management
for row crops $23,662.
- Christmas tree integrated pest
management $37,514.
- Integrated pest management
of Colorado potato beetle $33,156.
Contrary to popular belief, the
agricultural community has been
concerned about the effects of pes
ticides on the environment.
Between 1973 and 1983 the Feder
al Government allocated $4B mil
lion to the Federal Extension Ser
vice to develop and implement
Integrated Pest Management prac
tices in all SO states. In one year,
these IPM programs more than
paid for the 10-year investment
made by the Federal government.
If attendance on the Integrated
Pest Management tours during Ag
Progress Days is any guage of the
agricultural community’s interest
in this alternative to chemical
dependance, then Penn State
researchers will have ample oppor
tunity to see their successful pro
jects implemented on farms.
According to a recent national
survey, growers using IPM tech
niques in IS states in nine different
crops realized a $54 million per
year difference in net return as
compared to those growers who
were not using IPM practices.
Penn State IPM Projects
Dr. Jim Travis of the plant
pathology department explained
the IPM research to control fruit
disease and curb pest damage
while reducing the need for pesti
cides. A computer located in the
field monitors environmental con
ditions through the use of sensors
located through the field sending
data to be stored on the computer.
Using this information research
ers can accurately predict the opti
mum conditions for diseases and
cut their use Of pesticides by spray
ing only when conditions are right
instead of following a continous
spray program. Apple growers
spend millions of dollars per year
on pesticides. This practice can cut
the amount of pesticides used
without reducing the quality and
quantity of the apple crop.
The cost of these Held compu
ters may run $3,000. Travis added
that researchers are also working
on sensors which can send data up
to 12 miles and can be used with a
growers personal computer. Sen
sors would be located in each field,
but only one computer would be
needed keeping costs closer to
$5OO for the system.
Red mite poses a great threat to
apple growers. A project with the
potential to save apple growers
millions is the use of beetles to
control the European red mites.
Another successful project to
benefit fruit growers is die use of
disease
synthesized sex phermone which the agronomy department said that
attracts the male peachtree borer, a while pesticides may not be elimi
big threat to peach growers. v rated from Com and soybean pro-
Twisties which resemble the ties ductidn they can be reduced sharp
used to close bread bags is impre- ly with the use of Integrated Pest
gnated with the synthetic phero- Management,
mone. The twisties are placed Success with IPM practices in
throughout the orchard to confuse coni andsoybeans depends on the
the male in search of a mate.' The weed species and population, crop
resulting reduction in mating sue- rotatiort and tillage system,
cess lowers pest population with- Mechanical cultivation, which has
out the use of spraying. gone out of vogue, may have some
According to Dr. Ed Rajotte, redeeming qualities which may
these twisties are being made by an make it worthwhile to producers.
Australian company and may be According to Roth, new cultiva
made available to growers as early tors, faster tractors makes this
as next spring. practice more appealing than it
Work is being done to develop
apples which are disease resistant
Presently there are two such strains*
resistant to apple scale and pow
dery mildew and go by the name of
‘Freedom’ and ‘Liberty’.
Pennsylvania fanners use 1.7
million acres to grow com and soy
beans and approximately 3.S
pounds per acre of pesticides.
That’s six million pounds of pesti
cides each year. Dr. Greg Roth of
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used to be.
Sweet com production in Pen
nsylvania totals more than $lO
million. Even light damage to this
state’s com crop can be mean seri
ous economic loss. Researchers
are working on reducing the use of
insecticide and integrating biolog
ical controls.
Spraying every two days, as
many growers do, is very effective
but is also very expensive consid-
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ering chemical costs run as much
as $l5O per acre..
Information gathering for sweet
com growers comes in die form of
scouting the Helds to identify'pests
and then trapping them to deter
mine their number. The number of
insects trapped correlates to a field
population and allows the farmer
to spray only when there is a threat
of insect damage and not every two
days. The groer may be abel to
achieve the same results with
spraying every six days. The sav
ings on this project was nearly $9O
per acre.
According to John Losey, ento
mologist, researchers are using
wasps to control the European com
borer in sweet com. The wasp
destroys the eggs before they are
allowed to be larvae, the form
which actually damages the com.
This wasp has been used since the
1930 s with success on cotton and
tomatoe crops. These wasps are a
naturally occurring species in the
field.
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