A32-Lanc«ster Farming, Saturday, August 25,1990
Ag Progress Finds Better Ways To Manage Crops
ANDY ANDREWS
Lancaster Fanning Staff
ROCKSPRING (Centre
Co.) Keys to protecting veget
able and fruit plants vary, but simi
larities in how the crops are irri
gated and fertilized can be found.
And fanners may soon benefit
from data being collected in
research plots at the Russell E.
Larson Agriculture Research
Center.
Last week, participants in the
Ag Progress Days crop manage
ment tours were presented an over
view of crop management tech
niques many of which involve
studies of fertilizer/irrigation (fer
tigation) practices and how to pro
tect plant production as well as the
environment.
Fanners should be aware of sev
eral integrated crof> management
(ICM) techniques, a field that
involves a combination of inte
grated pest management (IPM)
and the concepts of marketing,
economics, labor, and production.
Various researchers were on
hand at Ag Progress Days to pro
vide fruit and vegetable producers
with a first-hand look into how
ICM is used in managing crops.
Tremendous problem
‘ ‘Our labor supply is drastically
reduced. We have a tremendous
problem finding people who will
work and who are willing to do the
seasonal-type labor,” said Rob
Crassweller, associate professor,
Penn State.
Crassweller detailed the impor
ance of using ICM as the need
jrows for new methods of plani
ng, maintaining, and harvesting
ruit.
Penn State is studying different
ypes of trellis systems, smaller
ree varieties, labor-efficient oper-
Uions, yield control, and other
ways to help the fruit farmer deal
with the changing economies of
fruit growing.
Crassweller explained that with
new, smaller tree varieties, the
grower will be able to operate from
the ground.
Reduce inputs
“We’re trying to reduce the
inputs that are necessary in order to
produce the fruit,” he said. This
was usually the “last item” a far
mer considered. ICM, said the
researcher, places more emphasis
on the marketing and management
of the production cycle.
“We have to be prepared to
spray, but we don’t just go out
This tomato test plot Indicates strong, healthy growth using organic fertilizer and
biological weed control, as part of the crop management tours at Ag Progress Days.
automatically and put a spray on,*’
said Crassweller. Part of the man
agement is timing the spray so that
it is a lot more beneficial to the
crop, while protecting beneficial
insects that are part of IPM
strategies.
Crassweller recommends that
fruit growers obtain more detailed
analyses of fruit tree samples
including the soil test and foliar
analyses to more effectively
plan and implement better man
agement practices.
Also, farmers should be aware
of the studies with new and
improved trellis systems, in addi
tion to the computer package
called the Penn State Apple
Orchard Consultant, which will
soon be available for sale from the
university.
Culmination of
integration
The computer package. Crass
weller said, is the “culmination of
integration, because now it’s all in
one package form.” It combines
many man-hours of expertise by
various contributors in the field.
The computer software will pro
vide ready answers to specific
problems that fruit growers
jncounter.
Vegetable farmers should con
sider how much they can gain from
mowing about irrigation and fer
ilizer options. Understanding
what is available —and what Penn
State is researching—may be able
o increase yield and profits.
In research in irrigation and fer
tigation undertaken by the center,
better results were obtained when a
blend of dry fertilizer and fertiga
tion were used in pepper and pota
to varieties, according to Doyle
Grenoble, Penn State
horticulturist.
What the results indicate, said
Grenoble, is to “stay away from
either extreme” of using all
fertigation or all-dry fertilizer
applications.
Important part
The group examined irrigation
techniques for pepper and potato
crops. “Irrigation is a very impor
tant part of an ICM system,
because in the systqn one of the
things we need to dols elminate as
much as possible stress from the
plants, to keep them healthy and
growing vigorously,” said
Grenoble.
The research studies scheduling
of fertigation methods and how to
deliver the right amount of water
Doyle Grenoble, horticulturist at Penn State, presents details of a moisture level
chart used for irrigating peppers at Ag Progress Days.
Barbara Goulart, associate professor of pomology at Penn State, far right, explains
how technicians Use special thermocouplings to receive temperature readings of
strawberry buds in several experiments at the Rockspring research farm.
and fertilizer to the soil at the prop
er time.
The schedule that is being fol
lowed is called a "benefit budget
ing” scheme, which will study the
roots and the soil in the root zone.
Finding out how much moisture
the soil holds at what Held capacity
will be used to “fine-tune” the
rate, time, and amount of fertilizer
and water.
Studies have involved both high
frequency, small waterings and
low frequency, larger waterings.
Different varities require different
fertilizer and water rates. Also, soil
types must be analyzed to deter
mine what can be used.
Nitrogen uptake
The researchers look at applying
fertigation to the root zone and the
possible benefits by studying nit
rogen uptake in the plants through
leaf samples.
“In the ICM system, there are a
lot of factors that we have to look
at and consider to determine what
system is the best,” said Grenoble.
Monitoring plant insect and dis
ease "economic thresholds” are
the keys to determining the best
ICM practices for the farmer,
according to Ken Steffen, horticul
turist at Penn State.
Steffen provided some detail on
various tomato test plots at the Ag
Progress Days tour. Different
methods were used to grow the
plants one group using high
input synthetic chemicals and irri
gation, the other with high input
biological materials and irrigation.
Types of materials
Different types of materials and
their effect on plant growth,
including trickle irrigation, ferti
gation, plastic and straw mulch,
and combinations of trellis and
non-trellis systems are being
studied.
Some of the results, according
to Steffen, were obtained using
various ICM techniques, including
organizational efforts (scouting),
irrigation, materials (such as plas
tic or straw mulch), labor, and pest
control studies.
Irrigation of strawberries is
important to the survival and the
feeding of the crop, and how and
when to irrigate may mark the dif
ference between profit and loss for
fruit growers.
The center manages 1-A acres
of strawberry plants, including
several varieties studied for irriga
tion, fertigation, pest control, and
weed control capacities.
Frost devastating
"Frost, by the way, is devastat
ing," said Barbara Goulart, associ
ate professor of pomology at Penn
State. “We can lose up to 50 per
cent of the crop here because of
frost.”
It is important for the farmer to
understand how critical it is to app
ly water at the right times to the
sensitive buds as well as the shal
low roots of the strawberry plant.
Studies at the center on fertiga
tion techniques, canopy prepara
tion, and the susceptibility of the
root zone to drought and other
streses may provide keys to better
:rop management
Frost is under particular study at
the center. According to Goulart,
the center is subject to eight or
more frosts during the blooming
period. Application of frost
damage prevention using irriga
tion and the study of temperature
on the development of buds may
provide better ICM techniques for
the farmer.
An expert system, using various
temperature-monitoring devices,
continues to gather data for irriga
tion control experiments. The
information uncovered over a long
period of time may help in formu
lating better ICM techniques.