Western corn rootworm is the insect pest of corn, with over 336,000 acres of feed corn at risk each year. Where crop rotation is not an option, soil insecticides are used to manage this pest. Now trials show that seeds specially coated with an insecticide and transgenic corn varieties work as well as soil insecticides. The seed coatings, effective for low to moderate rootworm infestations, can cut insecticide use per acre by nearly one hundredfold. Planting new corn varieties that contain a rootworm specific Bt insecticide can eliminate need for soil insecticide applications for this pest. These varieties are expected to be available commercially in the near future.
People who might be tempted to use a broad-spectrum herbicide may now have recourse to that all-time classic remedy: vinegar. IPM-funded research looked at spraying acetic acid (the essential constituent of vinegar) on weedy turf. Spray concentrations ranged from 5 percent (household vinegar) to 25 percent (two new commercial herbicides). Household vinegar offered the least lasting control, while higher concentrations of acetic acid were almost as effective as glyphosate (Roundup), a common commercial weed-killer.
It’s scent, not sight, that many peach tree pests use when luring potential mates. We can barely measure (let alone smell) the chemical pheromones that females emit. But synthetic pheromone dispensers flood orchards with scent. This is mating disruption: if pests can’t mate or procreate, their pest potential drops below the threshold for treatment–and that’s good news for New York’s $5.4 million peach crop. Research over the past two years shows that mating disruption can be just as effective and no more costly than insecticides in dealing with highly damaging pests.
Horticulturists don’t always have the diagnostic help they need in knowing how to read symptoms of plant disease–or problems that mimic disease. But with good training, professionals can quickly learn what to ask homeowners about their plants, how to diagnose common problems, and when to seek help. IPM’s "2001 diagnostic road show" taught 175 horticulturists from 13 counties around the state a systematic five-step technique for recognizing patterns of stress-related disorders for pest damage characteristic of each season.
Trichogramma ostriniae, a microscopic wasp, is no wimp. It tackles European corn borer, the number one pest of sweet corn, by parasitizing the borers' eggs. By killing the corn borer in the egg stage, fewer worms are available to infest ears of corn. We've found that a single release of relatively few wasps "inoculates" the field, providing good suppression at reasonable cost.
Almost 75 percent of the people who call the Cooperative Extension horticulture hotline in Allegany and Cattaraugus Counties want help with pests. Their next question, once they’ve learned about least-toxic solutions, is always "Where can I get this?" Surveying local retailers, master gardeners listed over 200 pesticide products available to homeowners. Even so, the reduced-risk products weren’t always on the shelves. So they provided store managers with information on least-toxic products.
New York State’s school districts spend over $3 million each year to control pests. We recently surveyed over 600 districts to discover how best to serve schools, given their chronic funding problems and the lack of data on which pests are most problematic or which pest management practices schools already use. The survey’s results? Among others, a straightforward account of which pests bug school staff the most. After all, "Know the enemy" is fundamental to correct and careful pest management.
Homeowners use nearly as much pesticide for weed control as on insects and plant diseases combined. Recently researchers have developed several cultivars of fine-bladed fescues that provide visually appealing turf and disease resistance while--best yet--suppressing weeds. These fescues might someday be the sources of natural herbicides for all those places where you don’t want weeds to grow.
Greenhouse wastewater may seep into ground water or discharge to surface water. While many organic chemicals in wastewater break down, others may remain to pollute the environment. That’s why researchers worked with greenhouse owners to define a set of "best management practices," or "BMPs," that
reduce the impact of fertilizers and pesticides on surface water,
reduce the risk of accidental spills,
promote the use of integrated pest management (everything from the latest in biocontrols to good sanitation) to reduce reliance on chemicals.
These "BMPs" help smooth out the bumps for growers who want invest in a future that’s good for the environment, good for people, and good for their bottom line.
Fire blight is an aptly named bacterial disease of apple trees that makes blossoms and shoots look scorched; it may kill trees if it gets into the rootstock. In bad years, some growers of New York’s 50,000 acres of apple orchards can lose from 5 to 50 percent of their trees. Now researchers have developed a new integrated approach that reduces tree loss through careful nutrition, the use of new fire blight resistant rootstocks, and–perhaps most novel–late spring applications of Apogee, an environmentally benign growth retardant that suppresses growth and fire blight infection of shoots.
