Overview of the Updated California Strawberry Pest Management Strategic Plan

Transcription

1 Overview of the Updated California Strawberry Pest Management Strategic Plan Peter W. Shearer, Ph.D. and Gerald Holmes, Ph.D. Strawberry Center, Cal Poly University Marla Livengood, Mercy Olmstead and Dan Legard California Strawberry Commission

2 Presentation outline Pest Management Strategic Plans What are they? Why are they important? Present information on CA strawberry Overview of CA strawberry production Overview of pest problems (diseases, arthropods and weeds) Highlight common research, regulatory and educational priorities between the current and previous 2003 CA strawberry PMSP Provide overview of new priorities for CA Strawberry PMSP

3 Pest Management Strategic Plans (PMSP) PMSPs address pest management needs and priorities for individual commodities in a particular state or region. The plans take a pest-by-pest approach to identifying the current management practices (chemical and nonchemical) and those under development. They are developed by growers, commodity associations, land-grant university specialists, food processors, crop consultants, and the EPA. Plans include priorities for research, regulatory activity, and education/training programs needed for transition to alternative pest management practices.

4 Benefits from completing a PMSP Regulators receive information on actual pest management practices and therefore will be less likely to use default assumptions in risk assessments. Regulators are provided information on important uses for special concerns (e.g., resistance management, geographical concerns). Stakeholders identify appropriate contact people to facilitate future communication. Growers have available documentation to support Section 18 Emergency Exemption and Section 24(c) Special Local Needs requests.

5 Benefits from completing a PMSP (cont.) Commodity representatives get a document that can be used to convey their needs to policy makers. Support for IR-4 Food Use Workshop research prioritization is provided. Registrants may use PMSPs to identify niche markets for development of new products. PMSPs foster multi-state and multi-regional collaboration resulting in less duplication of efforts and more judicious use of limited dollars. Grant seekers acquire documentation of stakeholder priority needs to support funding requests.

6 Other Strawberry PMSPs 2015: CT, MA, ME, NH, NY, RI, VT (Joint NE Region) 2007: FL 2003: TN

7 Since the 2003 PMSP, the California strawberry industry has increased the number of acres, reaching a peak in 2014 at 41,500 acres. Since then, acreage continues to decline, currently around 37,900 acres, while production remains stable because of the availability of high-yielding varieties value of CA strawberry production $3.03 billion USD

8 Farms in Orange County/San Diego and Oxnard harvest fruit from January to May. Farms in Santa Maria and Watsonville/Salinas harvest from March through November. Central Valley, the summer planting produces fruit that is harvested from April July. A fall crop is then harvested from July October. Oxnard and Santa Maria plant a summer crop which is harvested from September to December.

9 Characteristics of the Major Strawberry Production Areas in California in a Typical Season. Main Cultivars Fall Planted Oxnard/Ventura Santa Maria Watsonville/Salinas Proprietary cultivars Monterey (43.7%) Proprietary cultivars (57.4%) San Andreas (22.8%) (49.7%) Fronteras (20%) San Andreas (14.7%) Proprietary cultivars (17.3%) Monterey (39.7%) Cabrillo (6.3%) Summer Planted Proprietary cultivars (86.4%) Portola (13.4%) Portola (55.3%) Proprietary cultivars (26.3%) None Acreage: Fall Planted 5,300 (190 organic) 8,583 (911 organic) 11,601 (2,011 organic) Acreage: Summer Planted 3,462 (292 organic) 2,528 (745 organic) 21 (21 organic) (% is based on 2018 reported and estimated acreage)

10 California Pest Management Strategic Plan Updating the 2003 CA Strawberry PMSP Meetings were held in July, 2016 Watsonville, Santa Maria and Oxnard/Ventura Additional input received in 2018 Intent is to have current PMSP available on-line this quarter

11 Major arthropod pests of strawberry Whiteflies Holmes UC IPM UC IPM Twospotted spider mites Lygus bug and damage

12 Major fruit and foliar diseases Cornell Holmes Anthracnose Powdery mildew Botrytis grey mold

13 Major soil-borne diseases S. Koike Steven Koike, UCCE CA STRAWBERRY COM. Macrophomina Crown Rot Fusarium wilt Verticillium wilt

14 Key pests per district Key Pests Oxnard Santa Maria Watsonville/Salinas Arthropods Twospotted spider mites Lygus Twospotted spider mites Whiteflies Lygus Twospotted spider mites Lygus Whiteflies Foliar and Fruit Diseases Powdery Mildew Botrytis Anthracnose Powdery Mildew Botrytis Botrytis Powdery Mildew Anthracnose Soilborne Diseases Macrophomina Crown Rot Fusarium Wilt Macrophomina Crown Rot Verticillium Wilt Verticillium Wilt Fusarium Wilt Macrophomina Crown Rot

15 Annuals and Perennial Weeds of Significance to California Strawberry Production Annuals: Annual bluegrass Spotted spurge Sweet clover Cudweed Hairy fleabane Horseweed Knotweed Filaree Little mallow (cheeseweed) Sowthistle Common groundsel California bur clover Perennials: Field bindweed Yellow nutsedge Shearer

16 Insects, Diseases and Other Pests of Strawberry Effectively Controlled with Fumigant Applications Insects Pathogens Nematodes Weeds Root weevils, cutworms, strawberry rootworm, white grubs, garden Verticillium dahliae, Phytophthora spp., Fusarium Root knot, foliar All, except certain perennials and broadleaves; symphylan, ground mealybug oxysporum f. sp. fragariae, Macrophomina phaseolina (charcoal rot), does not control malva, clovers, filaree, oxalis, or bindweed Colletotrichum acutatum, Pythium spp, Rhizoctonia

17 CA Strawberry PMSP: 2003 & 2018 overlapping research priorities Find alternatives to methyl bromide. Develop new methods to produce clean nursery stock. Conduct (continue) long-term research on alternatives to fumigants in production fields. Develop resistance management strategies for lygus and spider mites. Evaluate new materials and techniques to manage arthropods. Develop and evaluate herbicides for under plastic.

18 CA Strawberry PMSP: Additional 2018 research priorities Develop new cultivars which are resistant to insects, nematodes and diseases. Conduct research on soil amendments to improve microbial community to encourage suppressive soil development. Conduct research on alternative weed management strategies.

19 CA Strawberry PMSP: 2003 & 2018 overlapping regulatory priorities Register alternatives to methyl bromide. Register new products for arthropods and powdery mildew. Register more than one at a time for resistance management. Utilize (maintain activity) IR-4 for priority registrations. Harmonize international tolerances and MRLs. Harmonize fumigant permit conditions (label interpretations) among California counties (i.e. Ag. Commissioners).

20 CA Strawberry PMSP: Additional 2018 regulatory priorities Protect existing chemistries. Retain methyl bromide for nursery production. Register new herbicides with effective modes of action. Reduce current buffer zone requirements. Re-evaluate fumigant modeling that influences CA regulations.

21 CA Strawberry PMSP: 2003 & 2018 overlapping educational priorities Educate growers and regulators (and PCAs) on resistance management. Educate regulators on systems approaches to using fumigants such as methyl bromide on strawberries. Educate applicators/growers on safe and efficient application techniques.

22 CA Strawberry PMSP: Additional 2018 educational priorities Develop educational materials targeted to minority growers (e.g. Spanish, Mixtec, Hmong, etc.) Collaborate with CA Association of Pest Control Advisors (CAPCA) and other organizations in educating growers and public Educate regulators about strawberry growing practices and pest management issues

23 Thank you!!