Developing farmers' skills and confidence in the use of Trichogramma ostriniae for European corn borer control in sweet corn, peppers and potatoes

Developing farmers' skills and confidence in the use of Trichogramma ostriniae for European corn borer control in sweet corn, peppers and potatoes

Summary

Numerous research and demonstration trials have shown that releases of the parasitic wasp Trichogramma ostriniae (T.ost) can be an effective management strategy for European corn borer control in sweet corn, peppers, and potatoes. It is time to put the use of T.ost into the hands of farmers. Organic farmers, farmers who do not use conventional insecticides, and high-level IPM adopters all stand to benefit from using T.ost releases as all or part of their ECB management strategy, through reduced crop damage, reduced use of insecticides, or both. We have worked with 44 farmers over three growing seasons to provide wasps, education, and technical support to help familiarize them with the use of the wasps. Interviews with growers indicate that all have experienced one or more performance target benefits from using the wasps. We were granted a no-cost extension to this project that moves the evaluation year forward to 2010. We will not be supplying wasps to farmers in 2010 but will provide collaborating growers and others with information support as needed to make the transition to purchasing and releasing on their own. Wasps are commercially available from IPM Laboratories in Locke, NY. We will survey collaborating growers and others who order T.ost in 2010 to determine whether they released wasps, benefits to their operation, how this project influenced their use of the wasps, and future needs to help them continue successful use of T.ost.

Objectives/Performance Targets

Of the 35 growers who collaborate with the project during the two years of demonstrations, 25 will purchase and release T. ostriniae for European corn borer control on their own during the third year. Of these growers, 20 will report at least two of the following changes with respect to sweet corn, pepper or potato: improved harvest quality or yield; reduced use of insecticide applications for European corn borer control; reduced labor, fuel, or other costs associated with European corn borer control; increased crop acreage; increased net income; improved customer satisfaction; reductions in European corn borer moth trap captures or infestations compared to previous seasons; increased integration of sweet corn as a rotation crop into vegetable/cover crop rotation plan.
Fifteen growers (of 150) who attend twilight or winter meetings will try T. ostriniae on their farm.

Accomplishments/Milestones

Forty-four farmers collaborated with the project team to release wasps in sweet corn, peppers, or potatoes over three growing seasons.

We met with collaborating farmers each season to learn about their experiences, successes, and challenges, and made adjustments to our protocols as needed.

Post-season interviews with collaborators indicate that all have experienced one or more performance target benefits. Our 2010 evaluation survey will allow us to quantify benefits in different areas.

Collaborating grower interest in continuing to use Trichogramma has been high during the course of the project.

Project team members shared information about using T.ost at 35 grower meetings.

A fact sheet on using T.ost for ECB management was developed and posted on the web as a downloadable .pdf document: http://nysipm.cornell.edu/factsheets/vegetables/swcorn/trich_ost.pdf

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

We were able to conduct a third year of on-farm demonstrations in NY and MA, reinforcing the confidence of current collaborators and adding a small number of new collaborators. Both will increase our success meeting our performance targets. Collaborating farmers remain positive about their results from T.ost releases. Most have reported saving one or more insecticide applications or improving the harvest quality of their sweet corn or peppers. We have found that early season releases in sweet corn, when temperatures are cool, may not provide the same benefits as main season releases when temperatures are warmer. We tried higher release rates on two farms in NY to improve success in earliest sweet corn fields. Heavy rain also seems to reduce the success of the wasps. This additional information (along with improving accuracy of long-term weather forecasts) will help farmers and suppliers make informed decisions about either choosing higher release rates, not to release wasps, or to be ready with a backup insecticide application. 2010 will be our evaluation year. We will develop a survey method to measure our performance targets as well as providing support for collaborating farmers making the transition to purchasing and releasing wasps on their own. If new farmers are interested in trying T.ost releases we will provide them with information and technical support as well. We feel confident our progress toward meeting our performance targets.

Collaborators: