Feature Article: New study Documents Benefits from IPM (March 2001)

G. Frantz, Glades Crop Care, 949 Turner Quay, Jupiter FL 33458, USA

A recently completed, data rich study of pest management trends among growers in Florida's intensive fruit and vegetable production region reveals an overall steady decline in both usage of and reliance on pesticides accompanied by increased acceptance of multi-tactic IPM systems.

The review study, commissioned under a U.S. Dept. of Agriculture grant, was conducted by a long established, Florida-based commercial research and consulting firm, and resulted in publication of an in-depth report, PEST MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS TO SUSTAIN HIGH-VALUE FLORIDA VEGETABLE PRODUCTION. The 186-page document, which can be freely down-loaded from the website, reflects evolution along the IPM continuum by regional tomato and pepper producers. Website: http://www.gladescropcare.com/PMAP_report.html

The authoring Glades Crop Care Inc. (GCC) specialists found that "growers are successfully reducing reliance on higher-risk pesticides through greater emphasis on prevention coupled with increasingly complex, multitactic IPM systems." Prevention was cited as both the "backbone of effective systems" and as being reliant on assuring that only disease-free crop seedlings are used for transplants.

Data collected by GCC suggests that "natural biocontrol-based processes carry a major share of the burden in suppressing insect pests on farms that have progressed into the biointensive zone along the IPM continuum." However, results clearly revealed that not all surveyed growers had made the transition. While the "most innovative growers in the State are now proving that such systems are commercially viable," the report notes, there remains a need to refine procedures and establish a greater level of confidence.

The five chapter document concludes that, despite progress toward prevention-based IPM, "intensive fruit and vegetable production in this region remains heavily dependent on access to pesticides" to manage pest populations that flare up because of weather, resistance, or emergence of a new strain. The report offers extensive charts and data tables for actual conditions.

For more information contact G. Frantz at:
e-mail: GFrantz@igc.apc.org
Phone: 1-561-746-3740

Excerpt taken, with thanks, from Glades Crop Care material; also, Ed Rajotte, Penn State IPM Coordinator.

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Co-Editors: Bill Hutchison, Department of Entomology, University of Minnesota, hutch002@tc.umn.edu
Jeanne Ciborowski, IPM Program, Minnesota Department of Agriculture, jeanne.ciborowski@state.mn.us
Cindy Tong, Department of Horticulture, University of Minnesota, c-tong@tc.umn.edu
Production Editor: Suzanne Wold, Department of Entomology, University of Minnesota, woldx018@tc.umn.edu

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Last Revised March 29, 2001.
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