IPM of Insect PestSoil 404

D. P. Muehleisen

You did not weave the web of life, you are merely a strand in it. Whatever you do to the web, you do to yourself. You may think you own the land. You do not.

It is God's. The earth is precious to God and to harm the earth is to heap contempt upon its creator. - Chief Seattle (1854)

Courtesy of the International Pest Management Institute.Currie Enterprises

What is IPM?

• There are many different definitions• Key concepts: Pests and management

• Integrated pest management is a sustainable approach to controlling insect pest populations that combines (PAMS)

• prevention, • avoidance, • monitoring• suppression

– strategies in a way that minimizes economic, health, and environmental risks.

– CSREES/Land-Grant University Definition (1998)

IPM=Improved Pesticide Marketing?

• History– Early years, pesticide

based– Ecosystem based– Key concept:

integrate numerous of compatible control strategies to maximize population stabilization

Prevention

• Various practices that keep pests from infesting a production site (i.e. field, orchard, or greenhouse)– Examples

• Using pest free seed or transplants• Field sanitation• Eliminating alternative hosts

Avoidance

• When pests are already present in the general area, but pest impact can be minimized through various cultural practices.– Crop rotation– Crop choices– Trap crops– Adjusting planting schedule

• Early planting, late planting, not planting

– Genetic modification• Resistance traits• Fast maturing varieties

Monitoring

• The key component to any IPM program• Proper identification of pest – know your

enemy– Monitoring program

• Traps• Weather monitoring• Soil testing, when appropriate

– Record keeping• Pest incidence and distribution in each field

Suppression To avoid economic loss, population suppression

technique may be necessary

• Cultural practices• No-till or strip till

• Cover crops or mulches

• Companion planting

– Allelopathic properties

• Physical suppression• Baited or pheromone traps

• Exclusion devices

• Row covers

• Biological Control• Mating disruption

– Pheromone

– Sterile release

• Conservation

• Augmentation

• Chemical/biopesticide control• Considered a last resort

• Cost:benefit

Problems with pesticides: The pesticide treadmill

• Resistance

• Resurgence

• Secondary pests

• Residues

What does Resurgence and Resistance look like?

The Basic Elements of an IPM Program 

• Understand the biology and economics of the crop or resource. 

• Identify the key pests and learn their biology and life cycle. 

• Consider using combinations of methods and materials to manage pests. 

• Direct control practices at the weak link in the life cycle of key pests. 

• Monitor fields regularly and systematically

• Use control methods that preserve and enhance naturally occurring beneficial organisms. 

Gain threshold= management cost ($/ac)/market value ( $/bu)

Planning an on Farm IPM Program

• Considerations– Ecosystem management

• I.E., Beneficial habitat

– Cultural control• Plant varieties/cropping

systems selection• Resistance to major pest• Will it sell?

– Information resources• Know your

county agent

– Monitoring program• Pest & beneficial

identification

– Record keeping

• Field maps

– Id problem spots

– Know your management options

• Organic different from conventional

• Do you have the resources to implement those options

Population Ecology

Economic Injury Level (EIL): Low pop of insect that will cause economic damage.

Damage Boundary: pop. level where damage can be measured.

Economic Threshold (ET): pop density or damage where action must be taken.

Ecosystem management effects on carrying capacity

• Carrying capacity impacts ET and EIL

• Managing habitat for beneficial populations require– shelter

– food

– Water

Plants to Attract and Feed Beneficial Insects

– Umbelliferae family• carrot, yarrow, Queen Anne’s

lace, dill, anise, fennel, coriander, parsley

– Compositae family • zinnia, marigold, aster, daisies,

mums, black-eyed susan, coneflower, Coreopsis

– Mint family and Perennial herbs

• mints, thyme, sage, oregano, bee balm, basil

– Other plants• salvias, wallflowers,

nasturtiums, poppies, etc.

goldenrod

dill Wild carrot

Cultural Control

• Varieties/Cropping System– Developmental rate

• Planting dates/harvesting dates

• Crop rotation

Plant varieties /Cropping systems

• Cultivars should be resistant to major pest(s).• Cultivars should have appropriate mode of resistance.• Cultivars should be appropriate for the area.• Cultivars should be commercially available.• Cultivars must have a market (a concern with some genetically modified crops)

• Multiple cropping– Sequential production

• Interplanting– Cover crop

• Intercropping– Two or more crops on the

same land at the same time

– Strip cropping

Cover Crops

Biological Controls

• Conservation– Predators– Parasitoids

• Augmentation– Predators– Parasitoids

Predators Lady bird beetles

Adults Larva

Predators Green Lacewing

Adults Larva

PredatorsSyrphid fly

– Adults Larva

PredatorsOrius insidious

Parasitoids

• Peristenus digoneutis

• Encarsia inaron

Augmentation: Predator/Parasite release

Mechanical/Physical controls

• Row covers

• Hand picking

• Sticky boards

• Plant collars

Insecticides

• Chemical pesticides– Biochemicals

• pyrethrins• rotenone• azadirachtin• Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis)

– Synethetic pesticides• Permethrin (Pounce)

• Biopesticides– Bacteria– Fungi– Viruses

Monitoring of pest populations

• Scouting fields– Hand lens– Random samples

• Trapping– Pheromone traps– Light traps– Pit fall traps– Sticky traps

• Sweep Net• Vacuuming• Beat sheets

Random Samples

a measure of the total population

Field Scouting

•Point Sample•Random samples

Sweep net sample

Trapping

Lure trap

Visual trapPheromone trap

Visual trap

Pheromone trap

Beat sheet

Disease Control

ID your problem• Jenny Glass, Plant Diagnostician• Puyallup Research and Extension

Center• 7162 Pioneer Way, East• Puyallup, WA 98371-4998• Phone: 253-445-4582 Fax: 253-445-

4621• glass@puyallup.wsu.edu

How does a disease spread?

Disease Distribution and its Impact

Disease distribution

Occurrence over time

Apple powdery mildew

Principles of Disease Management - Organic

• Choose varieties resistant to the major diseases in your area

• Use disease free seed• Plant under conditions that

favor plant germination and growth– As opposed to conditions

favoring disease development– Temperature and moisture

critical

• Crop rotation

• Good sanitation techniques

• Healthy soil = healthy plants

• Weed control– Be aware of secondary hosts

• Control insect pests– Vectors of diseases

Traditional Principles of Plant Disease Control

• Avoidance—prevent disease by selecting a time of the year or a site where there is no inoculum or where the environment is not favorable for infection.

• Exclusion—prevent the introduction of inoculum.

• Eradication—eliminate, destroy, or inactivate the inoculum.

• Protection—prevent infection by means of a toxicant or some other barrier to infection.

• Resistance—utilize cultivars that are resistant to or tolerant of infection.

• Therapy—cure plants that are already infected.

Tactics for the Reduction of Initial Inoculum

• Avoidance—reduce the level of disease by selecting a season or a site where the amount of inoculum is low or where the environment is unfavorable for infection Exclusion—reduce the amount of initial inoculum introduced from outside sources Eradication—reduce the production of initial inoculum by destroying or inactivating the sources of initial inoculum (sanitation, removal of reservoirs of inoculum, removal of alternate hosts, etc.)

• Protection—reduce the level of initial infection by means of a toxicant or other barrier to infection Resistance—use cultivars that are resistant to infection, particularly the initial infection Therapy—use thermotherapy, chemotherapy and/or meristem culture to produce certified seed or vegetative planting stock

Tactics for the Reduction of the Infection Rate

• Avoidance—reduce the rate of production of inoculum, the rate of infection, or the rate of development of the pathogen by selecting a season or a site where the environment is not favorable

• Exclusion—reduce the introduction of inoculum from external sources during the course of the epidemic

• Eradication—reduce the rate of inoculum production during the course of the epidemic by destroying or inactivating the sources of inoculum (roguing)

• Protection—reduce the rate of infection by means of a toxicant or some other barrier to infection

• Resistance—plant cultivars that can reduce the rate of inoculum production, the rate of infection, or the rate of pathogen development

• Therapy—cure the plants that are already infected or reduce their production of inoculum

Tactics for the Reduction of the Duration of the

Epidemic

• Avoidance—plant early maturing cultivars or plant at a time that favors rapid maturation of the crop

• Exclusion—delay the introduction of inoculum from external sources by means of plant quarantine

Disease Causing Agents

• Fungi

• Bacteria

• Viruses

Fungi life cycle

– Example: Venturia inaequalis (Cooke) Wint– Apple scab

Bacteria• Erwinia

amylovora Fire blight

Viruses

• Tobamovirus, Tobacco Mosaic Virus

Weed Management

Know your Weeds• Id your weeds in your

field– Be sure you want to get rid

of it• “weeds are plant we have

not yet found a use for”– Holding water– Creating organic matter– Providing cover– Habitat for beneficial– they have a role

– Klamath weed• weevil

– Indicator species• Mustard Story

• Thrive in specific niches– Do well in specific nutrient

deficiencies• Mustard efficient

scavenger of Fe and S– Lesser degree Ca

• When in deficiency mustard does well

• Iron sulfate will knock back mustard

Tools for Control

• Exclusion– Don’t bring weed seeds

onto the farm• Nutrients brought onto the

farm– Raw manure will have

seeds

• Mulches– Don’t use hay– Straw is better

• How do you avoid this?

• Compost– 135-140 degrees F

• Turn the pile often to get the temp throughout and kill seed

• Be careful of source material

– Malva resistant to heat

Don’t let weeds go to seed!

• Early cycle weed control

• Is it worth continued harvesting from field to justify continued weed management?– Hand weeding is

expensive• $200-$700/Ac

• Expensive to control in row – Cultivate on both sides of

row– Precision planter

• Get a uniform stand• Allows more rapid use of

how• Shallow planting

– Deeper the planting, the longer for germination

• Distance between row– Shade out weeds– Plant dense - set up a bed

like system

Cover crop the year before

• Use cover crop for weed suppression

• Shallow tillage– Brings smallest amount weeds

to the top• Tilling brings weeds to the

top

• Stale bed– Force weed Germination– Plant into the moisture

• Let grown surface dry out• Germination from ground

water • Irrigate after germination

Transplants

• Give 4+ week jump on weeds– Plant at the right planting density can give you

weed free plots

Irrigation

• Drip irrigation is more water efficient but by directing water to the specific location minimizes weed germination and reduces need to cultivate

Timing of Cultivation

• Cultivate as soon as you can– Small weeds easier than big weeds to remove

• Do not irrigate right after cultivation

• Depth of cultivation– Depends on weed species

Solarizing the soil• Cultivate soil• Irrigate soil completely• Put plastic over the soil

– Weed get cooked• Soil gets up to 120 degrees F

• Bacteria fungi die and release nutrients– They do rebound

• Cooler climates two layers of plastic– Have PVC between layers – create dead air space

• Cooks weeds– Needs to be on for at least 30 days during the heat of the summer

Weed control with herbivores

Hylobius sp.

Equipment

• A large part of controlling weeds is recruitment of the appropriate technology

• The following is a short survey of the available equipment.

Hand Tools

Hand Tools

• Three point hitch mounted.

• separate hydraulically driven rotary head

• Weed control for perennial plants

Weed Badger

Flamer

• Flame engineering kit• Perennial crop model

for weed control in berms

• Different models available for beds or rows.

Spring Tooth Cultivator

• Specially suitable for quack grass control– Bring rhizomes to

surface and causes them to desicate

• Timing is critical

Bushhog

• Rotary mower • Cutting cover crop• Mowing weeds before

setting seeds

Spader

• Deep tilling with minimum disruption of the soil surface

Basket WeederBudghing Corp

• Stale bed preparation• Newly planted

transplants• Weed seedling control• Timing critical

Farmall Cub

• Belly mount tool bar• Rear mounted sweeps

Single row fertilizer applicator for a belly mounted tool bar