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<OL> <LI> Develop & implement reduced risk & OP alternatives for management of plum curculio (Conotrachelus nenuphar) and cherry fruit fly (Rhagoletis cingulata).<BR> a. Develop efficacy data necessary to accelerate registration of OP alternatives and reduced-risk insecticides <BR>b. Develop post-harvest strategies, tactics and tools to reduce PC and CFF populations in and around orchards <BR>c. Implement effective and economically viable PC and CFF programs on-farm <LI> Develop & implement meso-scale landscape management to reduce plum curculio (Conotrachelus nenuphar) population densities<BR> a. Develop biopesticide-based tools suitable for landscape suppression of key pests in orchard adjacent habitats <BR>b. Implement, on-farm, these biopesticide-based tools in orchard adjacent habitats <BR>c. Evaluate impact on key pest population suppression and ecosystem services<LI> Develop and implement field use guidelines for the utilization of copper fungicides for Cherry Leaf Spot (Blumeriella jaapii) control and fungicide resistance management <BR>a. Conduct and evaluate on-farm demonstration trials to deliver programs. <BR>b. Survey for changes in sensitivity of major fungal pathogens of tart cherry to newer reduced-risk chemistries and develop fungicide control programs for emerging diseases (i.e. European brown rot). <BR>c. Evaluate reduced fungicide management programs for cherry leaf spot control on tart cherry breeding lines with increased leaf spot resistance <LI> Develop and implement ecological impact assessment tools to measure changes in ecosystem services resulting from transition to OP alternative and reduced-risk compounds <BR>a. Develop measures of soil and O-horizon microorganism diversity and species richness <BR>b. Develop primary producer measures of carbon assimilation as a measure of biotic and abiotic stresses <BR>c. Measure changes in ecosystem services from natural enemies resulting from orchard transition <BR>d. Measure meso-landscape changes using a selected set of pheromone-baited traps to assess microlepidopteran species diversity<LI> Conduct an economic evaluation to financially quantify increased or decreased risk inherent in new alternative system.<LI> Conduct a sociological evaluation of the newly implemented system <BR>a. Through outreach and extension activities, achieve a statistically significant increase in the likelihood of IPM adoption and self-reported use of IPM by the Tart Cherry Industry. <BR>b. Test and refine an innovative project evaluation system that measures industry adoption of biointensive IPM and associated ecological, landscape social and economic changes.
Non-Technical Summary: Tart cherry is a commodity threatened by several pests, zero damage tolerance, loss of key pesticides and environmental issues. This proposal is involved with developing a comprehensive IPM program in tart cherry and resultant ecosystem effects. <P> Approach: 1a. The purpose of our efficacy work will be to facilitate and engage the IR-4 pesticide clearance report process to accelerate registration of candidate OP replacements. 1b. We will target life stages of CFF & PC that have been largely ignored in typical control programs. 1c. Implementation will be accomplished through on farm demonstrations in commercial plots at each of 11 farms, 1 plot receiving a grower standard pest management program including the use of OP, carbamate, and pyrethroid insecticides, and the second receiving a reduced risk, OP alternative pest management program. 2. Phenology Studies: Season-long trap counts of adult PC on edges of orchards indicating peak adult movement events and detailed soil and egg deposition. Post-harvest landscape habitat control: This experiment seeks to reduce adult PC populations while they seek overwintering habitat. 3a. Implementation of this project will be accomplished primarily through on farm demonstrations at each of 9 farms comparing a grower standard disease management program with disease management programs incorporating copper for CLS control. 3b. We will conduct an initial survey to establish baseline levels of sensitivity of the CLS to strobilurins and boscalid. The most efficacious materials, and materials effective in resistance management will be determined. 3c. We plan to establish a large demonstration block at the NWMHRS consisting of side-by-side block plantings (72 trees each) of resistant varieties, MSU 26e17 [29] and Montmorency. 4a. Soil/litter layer samples from the O-horizon and 1-15 cm soil depth) will be collected from each of the eleven different management systems in the spring and fall of 2007, 2008 and 2009. 4b. Initial carbon status will be determined in the spring just prior to bloom. Crop loads will be adjusted to 0.5; 2.0; and 4 plus leaves per fruit by hand thinning or chemical thinning at bloom and at the end of fruit cell division (14-28 days after bloom). 4c. Natural enemy populations will be monitored 3 times annually using yellow sticky traps. 4d. The aim of microlepidopteran species diversity assessment is to develop a method for evaluating orchard health on a meso-landscape scale. 5a. We will measure transition from a traditional input system to a reduced-risk, OP alternative driven system, including: input costs, other costs impacted from a switch in spray programs as the number of applications and/or amount of scouting required changes. 6a. The project will: 1) continue to create and distribute a biannual tart cherry IPM newsletter, 2) regularly update the tart cherry IPM project website (http://www.ipm.msu.edu/ tcabout.htm), and 3) continue to capitalize on existing outreach and extension activities already in place in each state. 6b. Test and refine innovative project evaluation system that measures the adoption of biointensive IPM and associated ecological, social and economic changes in the industry. We will continue our formative and summative evaluation activities to integrate social and economic data with biotic and abiotic data.