One potato, two potato:
Latest information for potato growers now available

Growers and pest management professionals can now find the latest integrated pest management guidance for the potato tuberworm, a new, troublesome pest in the Pacific Northwest, in Integrated Pest Management for Potatoes in the Western United States, second edition.

The tuberworm has been recorded in California since 1856, and several times in the last 20 years it was found in the Columbia Basin of Oregon and Washington. However, it was not a major concern for growers in the Pacific Northwest until 2002, when a field with severe potato tuberworm damage was documented in Oregon. The pest is difficult to control and over the years, many farmers have relied extensively on the use of insecticides to control it.

Tuberworm is just one of many pests described in the updated IPM manual by UC IPM. Growers can find information on diagnosis and treatment for more than 120 potato pests and disorders—ranging from black scurf, which causes superficial damage, to late blight, which can destroy a whole crop. The guide includes 51 new color photos (bringing the total to 210), 58 tables and line drawings, a section on organic potato production, and a comprehensive index.

Protecting potatoes from insect infestations and diseases is essential to the production of a high-quality crop. The manual contains a new section on general predators and extensively revised sections on aphid management and virus transmission, leafhoppers and phytoplasma transmission, late blight, bacterial early dying, necrotic strains of Potato Virus Y, black dot, silver scurf, and using cover crops for nematode management. Included in the new edition are information on testing Colorado potato beetle populations for insecticide resistance, and a detailed discussion of differential host tests for identifying root knot nematode species and races.

Forty university researchers and Cooperative Extension specialists from across the West contributed to making this revision an up-to-date and essential reference for potato growers and pest management professionals.

More information on the potato tuberworm is also available on the UC IPM Web site.

Pest management tool for stone fruit growers

When do you put up pheromone traps for peach twig borer? What pests are best managed during their dormant stage? These answers and more can be found in the newly released Seasonal Guide to Environmentally Responsible Pest Management Practices in Peaches and Nectarines.
  
Because most growers relate to crop growth stage or season, this annual approach guides stone fruit growers and PCAs on how to protect their crops and the environment at the same time.

Starting with the dormant period, followed by bloom/postbloom, in-season, harvest, and postharvest, this handy guide outlines activities that need to be carried out throughout the year. Common pests, pest monitoring procedures, treatment thresholds, cultural practices, and treatment choices are summarized for each season.

Also included are lists of environmentally friendly insecticides and broad-spectrum pesticides that pose risks to wildlife and the environment. Printed in full-color on sturdy coated paper, this guide has been designed for ease-of-use and durability in the field.

Authored by UC IPM Advisors Carolyn Pickel and Walt Bentley, and UCCE farm advisors in Butte, Stanislaus, Kern, Fresno, and Madera counties, the Seasonal Guide builds on years of UC research directed at environmentally sound solutions to stone fruit pest problems.

”We’ve put peach pest management information into a convenient, quick, and easily understood form,” says Bentley.  “Our goal is to get farmers and pest control advisors familiar with a pest and the easiest way to detect it.  The pesticides stressed in this publication work just as well as the more broad-spectrum materials. They are safer for people and the environment. That is the major difference.”

The program summarizes practices demonstrated in a four-year project. The Stone Fruit Pest Management Alliance is a public/private partnership of UC Cooperative Extension farm advisors and UC IPM advisors, the California Tree Fruit Agreement, the California Cling Peach Board, California Department of Pesticide Regulation, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 9.

Detailed, year-round IPM programs and annual checklists for peaches and nectarines that complement the Seasonal Guide can be found on the UC IPM Web site linked to the UC IPM pest management guidelines for those crops.

The year-round IPM programs include monitoring protocols, record keeping forms and treatment suggestions. Also included are printable color photo identification sheets, biology, monitoring and management methods, and pest identification tips.

The eight-page Seasonal Guide to Environmentally Responsible Pest Management in Peaches and Nectarines, UC ANR Publication 21625, is available from the University of California for $7. Call 1-800-994-8849. Quantity and reseller discounts are available.

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