Integrating Applied Insect Ecology into Blueberry Pest Management

Non-Technical Summary: This project will advance the integration of insect ecology into blueberry pest management programs in the two leading US highbush blueberry-producing states, to prepare producers for loss of key insecticides caused by FQPA. Through this project, we expect to increase the use of monitoring, degree day models, reduced-risk insecticides, and spatially-explicit management tactics, thereby reducing dependence on insecticide-based methods of insect management. By demonstrating these tactics at leading commercial farms and delivering information to diverse stakeholders, this project will enable continued development and adoption of effective IPM programs to reduce environmental and worker impacts while maintaining fruit marketability. We expect to have developed degree day models for both cranberry and cherry fruitworm by the end of 2011, and will have them available for use by growers in 2012 through Extension bulletins and online weather networks. Data from spray timing trials for both species will be available by 2012 to support demonstration of their effectiveness to our stakeholders. By the end of 2012, we also will release a printed blueberry phenology tracker for growers to see when certain pests are expected to emerge. No funding is requested in this proposal for development of an online version, but we will pursue that approach using internal funding during the course of this project. We expect to release the online version in late 2012. By the end of 2011 we expect to have a list of insecticides for use in blueberry, and their relative toxicity to natural enemies. This information will be shared regionally with other blueberry specialists. By the end of this project, we will also be able to provide growers with information on the implications for biological control of transition to a reduced-risk IPM program. At the end of each year (2010 in NJ, 2011 and 2012 in both states), we will be able to show the relative cost of monitoring and spraying at the standard and spatially-based IPM programs. This comparison will be used in extension programs and training to highlight the potential cost savings of this approach. At the end of each season, we expect to have delivered information on the results of this project to over 500 blueberry growers farming at least 70% of the blueberry acres in Michigan and New Jersey. We expect to have delivered information in person to over 200 growers each year, and will publish one extension bulletin per year on the topics of this project. Our progress towards the objectives of reducing insecticide dependence will be measured using State IPM (New Jersey) and USDA-NASS (Michigan - recently reinstated in the USDA budget) surveys, with comparison to the most recent surveys conducted in 2007. This analysis will provide a measure of the % change and absolute change in insecticide application to blueberry in these key production regions. <P> Approach: Objective 1. Develop and validate degree day models for key pests of blueberry. We will use degree day models that have already been developed for some key pests including cranberry fruitworm, obliquebanded leafroller, aphids, and blueberry maggot. These will be validated in major production regions of highbush blueberry and integrated into online pest forecasting systems in these regions. Additionally, new predictive models will be developed including one for cherry fruitworm. Objective 2. Determine whether selective IPM programs increase beneficial insects. Key natural enemies of insect pests in blueberry will studied to determine their sensitivity to key insecticides used in blueberry production. Using a combination of laboratory and cage experiments, we will determine the relative risk of these pest control measures to natural enemies, and will measure their effect on the regulation of blueberry pests under field conditions. 3. Develop and implement whole-farm IPM programs for blueberry. A GIS-based IPM program will be developed and implemented in MI and NJ based on spatially-explicit monitoring and pest management inputs. This objective will be run for multiple growing seasons to track the changes in pest incidence, natural enemy abundance, and management costs associated with implementing spatially-explicit vs. standard IPM programs in blueberry. 4. Deliver pest management information to diverse stakeholders. Using established networks of information delivery, we will deliver results from this project to blueberry growers managing a majority of the blueberry acreage in MI and NJ. This will include email-delivered newsletters and workshops.