ELIMINATING ORGANOPHOSPHOROUS AND CARBAMATE INSECTICIDES FROM NEW JERSEY, USA, PEACH CULTURE

Peaches in the eastern United States are a high value crop and a major component in the diets of infants and children.
However, the implementation of the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) of 1996 has and will limit reliance on organophosphorous (OP) insecticides for controlling key arthropod pests.
In response to production threats anticipated from the elimination of “at-risk” insecticides, the United States Department of Agriculture awarded a four-year grant to 6 eastern USA states to design pest management systems for peach and apple that will be effective, sustainable, economically viable, and lead to enhanced biological control while greatly reducing residues and worker exposure to “at-risk” insecticides.
This paper provides results from the first three years of the study for the eight peach study sites in New Jersey, USA. Essentially our Reduced Risk Peach Arthropod Management Program has provided a level of control of key peach arthropod pests that is generally equal to that provided by conventional grower programs.
A huge constraint is that the costs of these programs are about two-to-three times more expensive than traditional peach pest management systems.

VI International Peach Symposium

P.W. Shearer, A. Atanassov, A. Rucker

Prunus persicae, Grapholita molesta, Lygus lineolaris, Conotrachelus nenuphar, Platynota idaeusalis, Synanthedon exitiosa, Synanthedon pictipes, Quadraspidiotus perniciosus, IPM

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2006.713.56