Advanced Organic Pest Management. Karen RM McSwain Farm Services and Food Systems Director Carolina Farm Stewardship Association

Transcription

1 Advanced Organic Pest Management Karen RM McSwain Farm Services and Food Systems Director Carolina Farm Stewardship Association

2 Workshop Outline Terms and Concepts Practical Applications Efficacy Research Resources

3 National Organic Program Crop pest, weed, and disease management practice standard. The producer must use management practices to prevent crop pests, weeds, and diseases including but not limited to: Crop rotation Soil and crop nutrient management Sanitation Cultural practices that enhance crop health

4 Integrated Pest Management Ecosystem-based strategy that focuses on long-term prevention of pests or their damage through: Biological control Habitat manipulation Cultural practices Resistant varieties Pesticides are used only after monitoring indicates they are needed according to established guidelines. Materials are selected/applied in a manner that minimizes risks to human health, beneficial and non-target organisms, and the environment.

5 Many Little Hammers Matt Liebman and Eric Gallant, 1997 Pest management is achieved through the combination of multiple control methods. The whole is greater then the sum of it s parts. Increase control through the use of multiple control tactics. Reduce the risk of crop failure or serious loss by spreading the burden of control across several methods. Decrease pest resistance by reducing exposure to any one management tactic.

6 Many Little Hammers Big Hammers (Direct Control) Herbicides Cultivation Thermal Little Hammers (Indirect Control) Crop genotype Planting date Row spacing Seeding density Nutrition Residue management Tillage intensity Intercropping Biological Liebman and Gallandt, 1997

7 Terms Cultural Control: Methods that alter the environment, the condition of the host, or the behavior of the pest. Sanitation, variety selection, crop rotation, water & nutrient management, plant spacing. Mechanical Control: Devices, equipment, physical control. Cultivation, exclusion (row covers), trapping. Biological Control Natural enemies: insects, bacteria, fungi Biopesticides Natural materials: animals, plants, bacteria, and non-synthetic mineral products.

8 Weed Management Mechanical Flame weeding. Mechanical tillage. Plastic and straw mulches. Stale seedbed Cultural Crop rotation Irrigation/nutrient placement Cover crops Biological Biopesticides Lemonene, vinegar, soaps,

9 Seed Production and Longevity of Common Weed Species Weed Species Seeds Production (av. Seeds/plant) 50% Depleted (Years) Amaranth/Pigweed 13,500-35,000 3 Chickweed 25,000 3 Giant Foxtail Henbit 2, Lambsquarter 72, Ragweed 3,500 1 Smartweed 19,500 4 Thistle, Canada 1,500-5,300 1 Wild Mustard 1,200 1 Fall Panicum 500, (1%) Source: MSU Weed Science.

10 Actively Growing Direct competition Allelopathy Prevent weed seed germination Altering soil microbial communities Cover crop residues Seedling emergence Allelopathy Pathogenic fungi Cover Crops

11 Allelopathy A B C A) Daikon radish sown in August. B) Daikon radish winter killed -- no residue -- no winter weeds. C) Biomass from non allelopathic cover --- common chickweed Figure credits: Mark Schonbeck, Virginia Association for Biological Farming

12 Nutrient Management = Composted Poultry Manure =NPK Trt. Little et al Effects of Organic Nutrient Amendments on Weed and Crop Growth. Weed Science. 63:

13 Stale Seedbed Till the soil early in the spring, encouraging weed seeds to germinate. After the weed cover is established, the emerged weeds are killed, with minimal soil disturbance.

14 Flame Weeding Pre-emergent Carrots Post-emergent Sweet corn: 4 in. canopy Irish potatoes: Less then 10 cm (CPB). Tomato: when transplants are eight weeks old. Onions: 2 to 3 inches high. Cole crops: 2 3 weeks after transplanting.

15 Mechanical Physical barriers Hand picking Cultural Crop rotation Soil/plant health Sanitation Biological Intercroping Farmscaping Natural enemies Biopesticides Bt, pyrethrins Insect Control

16 Conservation Biological Control Maintain / enhance natural enemy populations Don t kill them Increasing / maintain habitat Farmscaping Intercropping Strip cropping Sweet alyssum --- Hoverflys --- Aphids

17 Augmented Biocontrol Inoculative: releasing a few organisms at a critical point. Inundative: releasing millions of organisms. Beneficial Generalists NATURAL ENEMY Whitefly Controls Ladybird beetles (Hippodamia convergens) Delphastus catalinae Green Lacewing (Chrysoperla sp.) Encarsia formosa Minute Pirate Bug (Orius sp.) Eretmocerus nr. californicus Praying Mantids (Tenodera aridifolia sinensis) Thrips Predator Spined Soldier Bug (Podisus maculiventris) Amblyseius cucumeris Beneficial Specialists Beneficial Nematodes Aphid Predator (Aphidoletes aphidomyza) Heterohabditis bacteriophora Aphid Parasite (Aphidius matricariae) Steinernema feltiae Leafminer Parasite (Diglyphus isaea) Steinernema carpocapsae Mealybug Destroyer (Cryptolaemus montrouzieri) Bacillus Thuringiensis Moth Egg Parasites (Trichogramma sp.) Colorado Potato Beetle Beater Purple Scale Predator (Lindorus lophanthae) Dipel 150 Dust Red Scale Parasite (Aphytis melinus) Thuricide Liquid BioControl Network:

18 Beneficial Insects

19 Beneficial Nematodes Microscopic worms that occur naturally in soil. They enter their prey through body openings, feed on them, lay their eggs. Offspring feed on the insect then emerge to seek out new hosts. Huge range of target pests. Flies, parasitic nematodes, cutworms, beetles, weevils. Photo Credit: Arnold Hara, University of Hawaii

20 Beauveria bassiana

21 Number of Trials Beauveria bassiana Good Control Fair Control Poor Control PRODUCTS: Bioblast, BotaniGard, Mycotrol, Mycotrol ES, Mycotrol WP, Naturalis L

22 Number of Trials Saccharopolyspora spinosa Good Fair Poor PRODUCTS Spinosad, SpinTor, Success, Tracer

23 Number of Trials Spinosad Efficacy Good Fair Poor Products evaluated in trials: Spinosad, Entrust, SpinTor (not OMRI approved), Tracer 4SC (not approved), and Success (not approved).

24 Factors Affecting Biocontrol Success

25 Disease Control Mechanical Cultural Crop rotation Sanitation Resistant varieties Plant spacing Irrigation mngt. Biological Biopesticides microbial fungicide and bactericide Variety trials comparing late blight resistant and susceptible tomato varieties in Henderson County, NC.

26 Defoiliation at 5% Fruit Ripening (%) Crop Rotation Defoliation associated with early blight (Alternaria solani) on tomatoes after growing tomatoes in the same field for four consecutive years Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 MacNab and Zitter. Do Rotations Matter within Disease Management Programs?

27 Disease Severity (%) Effects of Leaf Wetness Days after Planting Cabral, Ricardo N et al Septoria leaf spot in organic tomatoes under diverse irrigation systems and water management strategies. Hortic. Bras. vol.31, no.3, p

28 Resistant Varieties Late blight resistant versus susceptible tomato varieties.

29 Number of Trials Trilogy 4 Neem Oil Efficacy Good Fair Poor

30 Commercial Pesticides When all preventative practices have been used and insufficient pest control is achieved the use of a biological or botanical substance or a substance included on the National List of Synthetic Substances Allowed for use in organic crop production may be applied to prevent, suppress, or control pests, weeds, or diseases:

31 General Rule Nonsynthetics (natural) inputs are ALLOWED unless they are on the Nonsynthetic Substances Prohibited for Use in Organic Crop Production list. Prohibitied Naturals Short list Synthetic substances are PROHIBITED unless they are on the Synthetic Substances Allowed for Use in Organic Crop Production list. Allowable Synthetics VERY long list HOWEVER, they are not mentioned by brand name so you need to know what is natural and what is not ---- this is the tricky part.

32 NOP Definition: Synthetic A substance that is formulated or manufactured by a chemical process or by a process that chemically changes a substance extracted from a naturally occurring plant, animal, or mineral sources, except that such term shall not apply to substances created by naturally occurring biological processes. Natural products can be made synthetic. Hydrolisis : liquid fish products Palletization or dust suppressants: fertilizers Have synthetics added to them

33 Chemical Control Methods Powders, soaps, and oils Diatomaceous earth Insecticidal soaps Horticultural oils and neem oil Botanicals Garlic barrier Hot pepper wax Neem extracts Pyrethrins

34 Organic System Plan: Pest Management

35 Pest Monitoring How do you monitor the effectiveness of your management program? Weeds: Weed counts Observation of weed types Comparison of crop yields Insects: Insect monitoring with traps Observation of crop health Comparison of crop yields Crop quality testing Diseases: Soil testing Microbiological testing Observation of crop health Comparison of crop yields

36 Pest Thresholds Level at which pests will become an economic threat.

37 RESOURCES eorganic.info edu/resourceguide/

38 Questions? Contact info: Karen MR McSwain