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Funded Project |
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Funding Program:
Regional IPM Competitive Grants - Northeastern |
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Project Title:
Assessment of Efficacy and Cost of Banker Plants for Aphid Control in Spring Flower Crops |
Project Directors (PDs):
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Lead State: MA Lead Organization: University of Massachusetts |
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Cooperating State(s):
New York |
| Research Funding: $40,453 |
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Start Date: Aug-01-2004 End Date: Jul-31-2006 |
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Pests Involved: aphids |
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Site/Commodity: flowers, ornamentals, greenhouse |
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Area of Emphasis: banker plants, biocontrol, biological control |
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Summary:
NE US spring flower crops contribute ca 0.5 billion dollars annually to the economy. Dominant northeast crops are impatiens and geraniums. Pests include whiteflies, thrips, aphids and mites. We have developed effective, cost competitive biological controls for whiteflies in flower crops and are mid way toward doing the same for thrips. Aphids commonly appear in crops under biological control management. Non chemical controls for aphids are needed if growers are to be able to employ whitefly and thrips biological control without risk. Aphids make flowers unsightly and unsaleable. Aphid biological control options in greenhouse vegetables are well understood and in use. Application to flower crops has lagged. Greenhouse production in the northeastern US is over 90% flower production. We need to adapt the banker plant technology currently in use in Europe and Canada on vegetable crops, to flowers. The dominant aphids are Aphis gossypii and Myzus persicae. For each of these species, we need to assess the degree of efficacy and cost of Aphidius colemani banker plants under spring flower production conditions. We will run the needed trials in University greenhouses in MA and then in commercial greenhouses in both MA and NY. Controls that work in these states will work for the whole NE region. Ancillary activities needed in support of these trials include an initial aphid survey in the crop and screening potentially selective aphicides to find a compound to use for spot treating infestations of less common aphids, of species not susceptible to A. colemani.
Problem, Justification, and Background Problem: Floral Crops Sales Top Half of a Billion Dollars Annually in the NE Region. Nationwide, in 1998 sales of flats, pots and hanging baskets of such plants as marigolds, impatiens, geranium, petunias, and cyclamen were approximately 2.5 billion dollars (Appendix I), which was 64% of all greenhouse floriculture sales (National Agricultural Statistical Service, 1999). The majority of these sales are concentrated in the spring crop. In 1998 in MA, CT, NY, NJ, MD, PA, and VA combined, there were over a half a billion dollars in sales of such floral crops, 20% of all U.S. production. Greenhouse businesses employ a large labor force, averaging 16 employees per business. Thus the 446 greenhouse operations in MA in 2001 (New England Agricultural Statistics Service, 2002) and the ca. 965 operations in NY likely generated over 20,000 jobs. This is an important industry whose pest control needs merit serious attention. Because climatic conditions and the level of greenhouse technology in MA are about average for the region, solutions that work in MA and NY will work for the Northeast region as a whole. Greenhouse crops, pests and conditions are much more similar across the region than are outdoor crops and pests, which respond more to local variation in soils, temperatures and vegetation. Thus the work proposed here is directly relevant to the entire region. Importance of Aphids. Aphids (especially Aphis gossypii and Myzus persicae) are a common problem on a wide variety of spring floral crops. In a survey of MA flower growers in 1996, growers reported applying an average of three pesticide applications per crop for aphids, second only to thrips (Smith, 1998). While this survey has not been repeated recently, little has changed in this regard. Failure to control aphids to low levels makes plants unsaleable. Use of pesticides for control of aphids can disrupt biological control of thrips, mites and whiteflies. For growers wishing to minimize pesticide use, aphid biological control options are needed. Current practice is proceeding based on an inadequate research base, largely guided by guesswork and insectary recommendations. Background: (abbreviated) To determine the relative importance of the various flower crops in MA and NY, data from the USDA National Agricultural Statistics (1999) were summed in terms of sale value, combining MA and NY information. For flowers produced in two or more forms (bedding plants, pots, hanging baskets, etc), all categories were pooled. Crops with sufficient production in MA and NY to merit a state break out in the data were as follows, with crop value in parentheses: chrysanthemums (potted plants [$2,631,000] and hardy fall mums [$8,395,000]), cyclamens ($1,599,000), lilies (exclusive of cut) ($11,088,00), geraniums ($18,038,000), garden impatiens ($12,044,000), New Guinea impatiens ($7,236,000), and petunias ($5,257,000). Excluding fall hardy mums and lilies (not grown in same season as crops that are the focus of this proposal) and potted mums (grown mostly by specialized producers) and combining the two forms of impatiens (garden and New Guinea), the relative rank order of crop importance in MA and NY becomes impatiens ($19,280,00), geraniums ($18,038,000), petunias ($5,257,000), and cyclamens ($1,599,000). Based on this information, plus our own impressions of crops seen in growers' greenhouses, impatiens and geraniums are the most relevant crops to use in our proposed work. Justification: The justification for funding this proposal is as follows: 1. Greenhouse floriculture is an important, expanding segment of agriculture in the northeast. 2. Spring flower crops are a major part of greenhouse floriculture in the northeast. (Point "b" of the NE-IPM base priorities, crop importance) 3. The Massachusetts Flower Growers Association and grower surveys have clearly indicated that aphids are a very important insect pest. (Point "c" of the NE-IPM base priorities, pest importance) 4. Currently, control of aphids is narrowly based, being entirely chemical. This situation is not desirable and growers would benefit if either biological control options or IPM packages that combined biological and chemical control were available. (Point "a" of the NE-IPM base priorities, risk reduction) 5. Parasitoids of aphids or more effective than predators or fungal pathogens but the species of interest, A. colemani, is expensive to produce in insectaries. 6. Banker plants provide a means for growers to reduce the cost of A. colemani by only purchasing a starter colony, and then allowing natural reproduction to produce more. Also, banker plant technology is preventative rather than curative, and attacks the problem at the earliest time, an important consideration for insects such as aphids that reproduce rapidly. 7. Field trials with banker plants for aphid control have shown the approach to be successful in many vegetable crops, but trials have not been run in flower crops. Since the greenhouse industry in the northeast U.S. is over 90% flowers rather than vegetables, there is a clear need to assess this control option for flower growers. 8. Because MA and NY greenhouses are fairly typical of the northeast in terms of crops, pests, level of technology used, and production conditions, controls that work in MA and NY will be useable in all of New England, NJ, PA, DE, MD, and VA without much need for modification or local research. Banker plants systems are already being sold to growers in Canada, and Koppert Biological Systems Inc. (world's largest supplier of such products) is looking at setting up production facilities for banker plants in the U.S. This trial is likely to have the beneficial effect of stimulating Koppert to begin U.S. production of banker plants, which would confer an immediate important benefit to our growers. Even before such availability, banker plant systems can readily be constructed by growers (Point "d" of the NE-IPM base priorities, likelihood of implementation). 9. This research will contribute to the following goals: a. pesticide reduction (if parasitoids replace insecticides in whole or in part) b. better aphid control, leading to higher quality plants and higher profits from reduced plant losses. Objectives: 1. Aphid/Crop Survey in MA and NY Greenhouses. The goal of this objective is to determine which aphids, on which crops, are the dominant species found in MA and NY on spring flower crops. While this information is known in superficial terms, this survey will provide quantitative data, which are lacking. 2. Assess the Efficacy of Banker Plants Systems for Biological Control of Aphids in Spring Flower Crops. We will assess the degree of aphid control provided by banker plants, examining the influences of aphid and plant species. 3. Compatibility of Selective Aphicides and A. colemani. In the laboratory, we will measure the effect of pyretrozine and pyroproxifen on adults and mummies of Aphidius colemani. 4. Efficacy under Commercial Greenhouse Conditions. After the previous work, we will examine the efficacy of A. colemani in commercial growers in MA and NY. USDA CRIS data Progress Report 2005 Final Report |
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