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$1 million grant supports research on IPM for peaches |
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| By Cat Holmes |
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| A new $1 million grant
from the U.S. Department of Agriculture will make it possible for
researchers to document pest problems in peaches, study the biology
of key pest species and develop integrated pest management strategies.
The project director is Harald Scherm, associate professor of plant
pathology at UGA. He will be working with professor Dan Horton of entomology and Phil Brannen, assistant professor of plant pathology, as well as collaborators from New Jersey to Florida. Peaches have never been the subject of a coordinated effort to develop and implement pest management strategies for the crop, Scherm says, although he adds that that’s not because peaches don’t have pest problems. “The South provides a long growing season, high humidity and temperatures that favor both peaches and a wide array of pest species,” he says. However, until recent years, growers could use broad-spectrum pesticides. “These were basically silver bullets,” Scherm says. “Timing wasn’t important because they stayed around for a long time and killed a lot of pests.” Unfortunately, broad-spectrum pesticides like methyl parathion, which was used heavily on peaches, didn’t kill just pests. They killed most of the insects, both good and bad, that they were sprayed on. The Food Quality Protection Act prompted a review of these chemicals and, as a result, their demise, Scherm says. Since the late 1990s, many of these pesticides have been phased out. Most of those available now have a narrower spectrum of activity. They don’t kill a great number of insects—just certain targeted ones. One result is that secondary pests are building up. “For example, scale insects have built up tremendously,” Scherm says. “A few scales aren’t a big problem, but in high numbers they kill twigs and leave unsightly purple blotches on the fruit. Growers are struggling to find solutions to that problem right now.” While broad-spectrum pesticides were being phased out, other problems developed. Because certain peach pathogenic fungi have gained resistance to fungicides, this is a good time to coordinate the effort to develop integrated pest management for peaches, Scherm says. By applying IPM techniques, growers will be able to apply pesticides less often and use safer pesticides effectively. “The project will have a very strong research component, focusing primarily on the life histories of pest organisms that haven’t been studied using contemporary approaches,” says Scherm. The researchers will address three main areas. One, they’ll look at trimming the number of pesticide applications. “This is critical for peaches because they’re sold mainly as fresh fruit and are popular with children and infants,” Scherm says. Research will also address timing, so pesticide applications coincide with pest activity. This will require detailed investigations of the biology and life cycles of certain pest species. Finally, the scientists will look at using reduced-risk pesticides and biological controls, which will lower the risk to the environment and human health. |
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