Project Overview
Annual Reports
Commodities
- Vegetables: rutabagas, turnips
Practices
- Education and Training: decision support system, demonstration, extension, farmer to farmer, networking, on-farm/ranch research, participatory research
- Farm Business Management: whole farm planning, agricultural finance, risk management
- Natural Resources/Environment: habitat enhancement
- Pest Management: biorational pesticides, botanical pesticides, cultural control, economic threshold, field monitoring/scouting, integrated pest management, prevention, traps, mulching - vegetative, weather monitoring
- Sustainable Communities: urban/rural integration, sustainability measures
Abstract:
The objective of this project was to reduce grower dependence on chlorpyrifos use to manage an important pest, the cabbage maggot (CM; Delia radicum L.; Diptera: Anthomyiidae). A “toolbox” of integrated management strategies was developed, which includes: monitoring (flight, eggs, and damage); degree-day modeling of flight and emergence; spatial management (a regional grower-friendly GIS mapping and rotation plan); cultivation techniques; row cover and exclusion fence usage, planting and harvesting schedules, and alternative chemistries and application methods for control of CM. A tool for researchers and growers is being refined to evaluate program impact and grower IPM adoption over time called the PEST Plan.
Project objectives:
The main supporting objectives of this research project to reduce chlorpyrifos use and control cabbage maggots were to:
Define seasonal impact of cabbage maggots in western Oregon.
Research, evaluate, and implement IPM strategies in cruciferous crop production.
Build collaboration between growers, researchers, and extension personnel.
Inspire grower IPM interest and adoption of pest management tools for control of the cabbage maggot.
Objective 1
Establish a harvest assessment of CM damage
Install “no-spray” plots in growers fields
Objective 2
Develop a degree-day model for predicting seasonal flight
Implement a viable monitoring system (flight, eggs, damage)
Identify alternative chemistries and application techniques
Evaluate cultivation practices to reduce overwintering CM populations
Evaluate the use of row covers for managing CM in root crop production
Develop a GIS-IPM tool to assist growers in spatial CM management
Objective 3
Transfer technology to VegNet, Ag consultants, Brassica growers
Hold workshops (e.g., GIS-IPM tools, degree-day modeling, use of monitoring techniques) and present information at scientific meetings
Create a grower monitoring kit
Objective 4
One-on-one grower interaction in field
Development of “the PEST Plan” to assess progress and grower adoption of IPM practices