| The
goal of the three-year Washington Pear Integrated Pest
Management (IPM) Project was to promote shifts to a more
environmentally stable and economically viable pear pest
management system in Washington State. The project addresses
regulatory concerns of the Food Quality Protection Act
and the changing biology of target pear pests (e.g. codling
moth, mites, pear psylla, and leafrollers). A key objective
was to increase the use of IPM systems and reduce the
use of organophosphates (OPs) and improve resistance management.
To
reduce OPs, growers used pheromone-based mating disruption
for the codling moth, a key pest. This also increased
the abundance of natural enemies, which helped control
pear psylla, the other major insect pest in pears. Pear
IPM Project participants reduced organophosphate use
by 30 percent on 640 acres, 2000+ acres, and approximately
3,500 acres in years one, two, and three, respectively.
During the three years of the project, net pest control
cost savings for Pear IPM Project growers were ($28.84),
$78.83 and $66.13 per acre. Less money was spent on
pesticides for insect and mite control in Pear IPM Project
cooperator orchards with no increase in pest damage.
In
addition to measuring pesticide application amounts,
the project also measured pesticide residues on the
fruit. On those fresh fruit samples that had detectable
levels of pesticides (the vast majority had no detectable
levels), the average residue level was four percent
of the federal tolerance. Pesticide levels on the fruit
and in the finished product were so low and the occurrence
so infrequent that a |
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CAP's
PARTNERS
Del Monte Foods, Snokist Growers, Washington
State Horticultural Association, crop consultants,
Washington State University Cooperative Extension,
USDA-Agricultural Research Service, and chemical
suppliers. |
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Through
these steps the project has enabled pear growers to control
insect pests, thereby further reducing the need to use insecticides,
through increased populations of beneficial species. The project,
recently completed, has made mating disruption a more common
tactic in nearly 3,500 acres of Yakima district pear orchards,
an increase of 468 percent in use of this practice in pears.
Total insect control costs savings to growers has averaged
$100/acre with effective control, quality, and yield and a
reduction of more than 30 percent reliance on organophosphates.