Grape IPM in the Northeast

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DEVELOPING A VINEYARD IPM STRATEGY

Vineyard pest management strategies have traditionally been dependent on protective applications of broad-spectrum pesticides. However, loss of chemicals used in vineyards due to regulatory activity has reduced the number of pesticide options available to growers. Furthermore, public concern about the use of agricultural chemicals has led some processors to impose additional restrictions on the use of currently registered pesticides beyond those required by government regulations.

For several years, increased attention has been focused on integrated pest management (IPM) programs and alternative methods of pest management to reduce pesticide use in agricultural systems because of food safety issues, groundwater contamination, and increased environmental awareness. By definition, IPM is a pest management strategy that uses a combination of methods (such as sampling, thresholds, forecasts, and biological and cultural controls) rather than relying solely on calendar-based applications of chemical pesticides. If, however, no other control measure is effective in preventing pest damage, a chemical pesticide is recommended.

In past IPM programs, pesticides were generally chosen based on their efficacy or cost rather than their potential environmental impact. However, developing a vineyard IPM program has become increasingly complex in recent years, and efficacy cannot be used as the sole criterion any longer. Growers now need to consider the following factors when developing a vineyard pest management strategy: pest biology (life cycle, infection requirements, etc.), varietal susceptibility, processor restrictions on pesticide use, IPM strategies currently available, and the economics of implementing these strategies, in addition to the efficacy of available pesticides. With public concern over food safety, groundwater contamination, and exposure to chemicals, there is increasing pressure to determine the environmental impact of the pesticides that are used.

IPM programs throughout the country use various methods (the number of sprays, the amount of active ingredient or formulated product used per acre, dosage equivalents, etc.) to quantify pesticide use and environmental impact. These data are then used to compare pest management strategies or programs. But none of these methods estimates the environmental impact of specific pesticides.

New York's Food and Life Sciences Bulletin 139 (1992), A Method to Measure the Environmental Impact of Pesticides (see appendix 4), organizes the published environmental impact information on pesticides into a usable form to assist growers and other IPM practitioners with environmentally sound pesticide choices. This bulletin presents a method to calculate the environmental impact of most fruit and vegetable pesticides commonly used in commercial agriculture. The values obtained from these calculations can be used to compare various pesticides and pest management programs to ultimately determine which program or pesticide is likely to have the lower environmental impact.

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These pages are maintained by the New York State IPM Program, part of Cornell Cooperative Extension. All material is protected by Section 107 of the 1976 copyright law. Copyright is held by Cornell University and the New York State IPM Program.