Greenhouse Screens Bar Whiteflies,
WOOSTER, Ohio You
put screens on your windows
to keep out house flies. Why
not do the same thing to your
greenhouse for whiteflies?
That’s the question a team
of Israeli researchers asked,
then answered, in defeating a
devastating tomato disease.
The team, led by Mena
chem J. Berlinger of the Gilat
Regional Experimental Sta
tion, found that greenhouse
“insect exclusion screens”
are an effective way to pre
vent tomato yellow leaf curl
virus, or TYLCV. The
screens, installed in vents and
doors, keep out tobacco
whiteflies, the tiny vectors of
Deck Overs
w/FPp Tall Hay
Hauler Special
m
Skid Loader Models Jjl H
|| J. 82” Inside Fender Width
Overs
Also Miscellaneous
"touch Bodies
HUGE SAVINGS! ONLY ONE REMAINING!
Save 40% On This One-Time Opportunity On
A New Case IH Model 4200 Combo-Mulch
Finisher With A Working Width of IST'
the virus,
Furthermore, an Ohio
State University scientist
working with the team deter
mined that the screens are
cost-effective, too they
make economic sense for pro
ducers as well as consumers
and said there’s high po
tential for their use in the
United States.
Robin Taylor of Ohio
State’s Department of Ento
mology said the screens have
led to an enormous reduction
in pesticide expenditures by
Israeli greenhouse tomato
growers and to millions of
dollars in savings by Israeli
consumers.
Special Offer
One Only On A New
M
Three-Point Hitch Blade
New Rhino Model R5OO
A Great, Economical
Rear Blade!
7 foot adjustable slide
moldboard. No wrench
angle & tilt adjustments.
Was $725 Now $695
(The Original) Works
Better - Made of Better
Steel to Last Longer
Optional
Slide In Ramps
The ridge between the tine
tips and the container unit
prevents collected stones
from falling out while new
ones are being collected
Call Binkley &
Hurst Bros. For
Trailer & Parts
Accessories
2,000-22,500 Lb.
Axles & Suspensions
Metal Trailer
Components
Lights & Electrical
Supplies
Jacks, Couplers &
Hardwood Accessories
& Much More
Check Our Prices
On Receiver
Hitches!
Buy Where The
Quality is #1 At
the Right Price
$13,200 LESS
40% FOR
NO-TRADE
PRICE OF
ONLY $7,920
RINKIMniST 133 “csr n Ra •
aQ/lC Tltlfl / Lltitz, PA 17543-0395
'“WW/a.IWt.-' (717)626-4705 aFarTTI plan
Rax.7.l7-626-0996. . l-gQQ-414>4705 tel a rpcm,„ ,«
“I’ve seen the economics.
I’ve seen the biology. It’s a
technology that makes logi
cal sense,” said Taylor,
whose economic evaluation
of the screens, co-authored by
Berlinger and three other Is
raeli researchers, appeared in
the journal Crop Protection.
Until the screens were
widely used (starting in the
mid-19905), tobacco white
flies were the biggest pest
problem of Israeli greenhouse
tomatoes. Most of the spray
ing that was done on the crop
was done to kill whiteflies to
keep them from spreading
TYLCV. Yet growers still lost
tomatoes and profits.
Forks for
.oaders. Tract
Articulate!
■oaders
m
Brakes, Tires and
Wheels
In Stock, New Glencoe 14’Wide with
' Kit Mi
New Affordable Field Cultivators That Level!
For Perfection In Full Seed Bed Preparation
You Need To See Binkley & Hurst Bros. For
a Perfects 11. 100’s Sold - They Work!
>v ' r
■■ p
Heavy duty
twisted
S-tines are
available for
heavier soils
or dense
residue.
Binkley & Hurst Bros. Inc.
Has Lots Of Buster Bar Eq. In Stock
ißk
tfISHR <■
To fit Disk Harrows, Field Cultivators & More
Ask for Amos Sr
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, May 18,2002, Grower and Marketer-
Slash Insecticide Use
Israeli consumers, mean
while, spent an estimated $l6
million to $32 million a year
more on tomatoes from 1980
to 1990 because of lower
production and higher pro
duction costs than they
would have if screens had
been used.
Now, although fungicides
and spot insecticides are still
needed when, say, white
flies breach a break in a
screen, usually a rare event
overall pesticide use on Is
raeli greenhouse tomatoes
has plummeted: from a high
during infestations of one or
two sprays a day to one or
two a season. And TYLCV
no longer controls profits or
Economically
Priced For
The Job They
Do. Sizes As
Small As
10 Foot Up To
Hydraulic
Fold, 28’
Models
-v-- €
r
Heavy
springs
maximize
roller
penetration,
prevent dam
age.
prices.
“The study showed that
the screening is beneficial to
both the public and the pro
ducer, which is actually not
very common,” Taylor said.
“Usually there’s a winner
and a loser. In this case there
are two winners. The losers, if
any, are the chemical compa
nies.”
The biggest winners were
the early adopters: the first
growers using the screens.
They enjoyed about six years
of better than average pro
duction, since other growers’
yields were still being cut by
TYLCV, and much better
than average prices, since Is
raeli tomato demand is ine
lastic (it’s not affected by the
price) and overall production
was down.
That’s one of the study’s main mes
sages, Taylor said: that the early
adopters of a new technology gain the
most, since once the technology is
widely adopted the advantage over
other growers disappears.
“If you’re an early adopter with the
right technology, you make a killing,”
he said.
So will U.S. greenhouse growers
early, late or in between adopt
screening? Some already have, includ
ing in California and North Carolina.
For now, however, the tendency is to
avoid the risk. Greenhouse screening
isn’t widely known, used or marketed
here. It’s also a capital cost (as op
posed to pesticides, an operating cost),
and for some growers, raising even the
modest amount of capital needed
about $lO,OOO per acre may be diffi
cult.
Growing interest in sustainability,
not to mention integrated pest man
agement and organic farming, may
change this.
“A lot of people are concerned about
making agriculture sustainable,”
Taylor said. “One of the ways to do
that is to reduce inputs, and one of the
big inputs is pesticides.
“Insect pests are serious business for
greenhouse growers,” he said.
“Screening and other strategies could
virtually eliminate greenhouse insect
pests and the need to use pesticides to
control them.”
197