Monitoring and Management of Plum Curculio in Apple Using Odor-baited Trap Trees

Project Overview

FNE23-044
Project Type: Farmer
Funds awarded in 2023: $5,610.00
Projected End Date: 03/31/2025
Grant Recipient: Green Mountain Orchards
Region: Northeast
State: Vermont
Project Leader:
Casey Darrow
Email
Green Mountain Orchards

Commodities

  • Fruits: apples

Practices

  • Pest Management: chemical control, cultural control, integrated pest management

    Proposal summary:

    We propose to use odor-baited 'trap trees,' -- existing apple trees with dispensers of fruit odor and pheromone bait -- spaced 50-60 meters apart along the orchard border of an 85-acre commercial apple orchard, to monitor and intercept plum curculio as a practical method of managing curculio with reduced sprays in a fresh-market apple orchard.

    Project objectives from proposal:

    Evaluate the effectiveness and cost, in time and money, of using border 'trap trees' to intercept immigrating plum curculio on an entire commercial orchard.

    Compare the results of either using border traps as a monitoring technique or a control technique against a grower standard program.

    Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture or SARE.