A Strawberry Multi-dimensional IPM Systems Comparison Demonstration 1997

Author: Joe Kovach, Dept. Entomology, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, 1680 Madison Ave., Wooster, OH 44691-4096

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METHODS

This project is a long term project that began in the summer of 1995 with cover crop plantings on approximately two acres of land located at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station. In 1996, strawberries were planted. The first full fruiting year was in 1997 and it is anticipated that data will be collected through the year 2000. Treatments consist of an "organic" (ORG) treatment where no pesticides (natural or synthetic) will be applied and only cultural and biological controls will be used. The "future IPM" (IPM) treatment will use some pesticides but the goal will be to minimize synthetic pesticides used and to test unproven cultural and biological control tactics. The final treatment will be "conventional IPM" (CON) which will use 1995 IPM technology to manage pests that were published in the Cornell Small Fruit Recommendations publication. Each treatment is replicated 4 times and plot size for each replicate is approximately 18 m (15 rows, planted on 1.25 m (CON) or 18 rows on 1 m centers (IPM, ORG), by 15 m. Four strawberry cultivars were included in this study. The cultivar 'Honeoye' was selected because of it is resistant to TPB injury and 'Earliglow' was selected because it's fruit morphology makes it less susceptible to Botrytis fruit rot. The day-neutral berries ('Tribute' and 'Tristar') were selected because of their susceptibility to TPB and Botrytis. In addition, each IPM and ORG replicate was surrounded by a 1 meter strip of alfalfa to act as a trap crop for TPB. Leaf analysis was conducted periodically to maintain consistent fertility levels between treatments with the organic treatment receiving composted chicken manure and the other treatments receiving synthetic fertilizers.

During 1997, each replicate of the treatments was divided into 18 individual subplots. In the IPM and ORG treatments, each subplot consisted of 3 rows of the same cultivar by 5 meters. In the CON treatment, the northern subplots of a cultivar were 3 rows by 5 meters and the southern subplots of the cultivar were 2 rows by 5 meters due to fewer rows per replicate because of increased row spacing. Three untreated check plots were assigned per replicate, one for the `Earliglow', `Honeoye' and the day neutrals. Leaf samples from `Earliglow' in each treatment were collected after renovation on 6 Aug and sent to the laboratory for nutrient analysis.

Weeds were collected on 12 May, 14 Jul, and 25 Sep, dried for several days and then weighed to determine weed biomass per plot. During mid May hand, weeding of the plots was conducted and time was recorded to determine how long it would take to remove all the weeds from a plot. Dacthal (12 lb/A) was applied in the spring (22 Apr) in the CON treatments for weed control and 2,4 D (2 pts/A) was applied at renovation to the IPM and CON plots.

To control Botrytis, a spray of Rovral (1.5 pt/A) was applied at bloom (30 May) to the CON treatment. The Bioworks formulation of Trichoderma harzianum (1.5 lb/A)was applied at bloom in the IPM plots and nothing was done for Botrytis control in the ORG treatments except for having narrow ribbon rows.

Throughout the flowering and fruit set season, TPB nymphs were monitored using the cluster tapping method on 30 May, 3 Jun, 6 Jun, 10 Jun, 12 Jun, 16 Jun, and 19 Jun. At least 6 fruit or flower clusters per replicate were sampled to determine TPB densities. After counting, TPB nymphs were immediately returned to the plants. Other pests monitored included the strawberry bud weevil on 30 May, 3 Jun, and 9 Jun, spittlebugs on 13 Jun and 16 Jun, and mites on 18 Jun.

Beauveria bassiana (Mycotrol ES) was applied at 1 qt/A on 9 Jun, 13 Jun, and 23 Jun in the IPM plots. A spray of Malathion 8F (1 qt/A) was applied on 4 Jun to the CON treatment. Sprays were applied at a rate of 50 gallons of water per acre using a backpack sprayer. Vacuuming was conducted in the ORG plots on 3 Jun, 6 Jun, 23 Jun.

Fruit was harvested when ripe from 3 - 5 one meter sections of row in each subplot on 19 Jun, 23 Jun, 26 Jun, 2 Jul, and 10 Jul. For analysis, the first 3 dates were pooled and called the early picking. The last two dates defined the late picking. At each harvest session berries were counted, weighed, and the percent TPB damage was calculated. Strawberries in the CON treatment were sprayed with 2,4 D (Formula 40, 2 pts/A) on 16 Jul and renovated on 21 Jul. All treatments were rotovated between rows (except the day neutral rows) and straw was applied to the CON treatments and sudan grass broadcast in the IPM and ORG treatments (90 lb/A). Leaf samples were collected from `Earliglow' plants on 6 Aug and sent to laboratory for analysis. Harvest and population density data were analyzed separately and pooled by variety, berry weight, and % TPB damage. Log (X+1) transformations were performed before analysis where appropriate. Differences between treatment means were determined using standard statistical methods (SuperANOVA, Abacus Concepts Inc.).

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