It isn’t just the insects that’ll get you. While orchard growers deal extensively with plum curculio, apple maggot fly and codling moth – just a few of the common insect pests responsible for crop losses – birds, large mammals and rodents can also do damage. Damage to fruit is a concern, but it is the … Read more
Although treated as a social or political wedge, insecticides represent an important tool for growers dealing with the hordes of insect predators vigorously pursuing their share of the yearly crop. A major problem for growers is the daunting task of choosing the right insecticide and using it effectively to achieve personal and community-wide economic and … Read more
If insects were our friends, they’d still be our enemies – if they prey on our fresh tomatoes. To keep those tomatoes juicy and ripe on the vines, growers must identify and control three important pests – the tomato fruitworm, stink bug and leaf-footed bug – that can cause a tremendous amount of damage. Tomato Insects … Read more
In recent decades integrated pest management (IPM) has gone from being essentially an exotic idea about how to address plant, animal, fungal and a range of other pests capable of crippling production, to being a term bandied about in the growing community almost daily. Widely accepted today as the most appropriate response to the problem … Read more
Pollinators are responsible for nearly 30 percent of our nation’s food supply. Honey bees (Apis mellifera) support an estimated $15 billion in crop production, visiting fruits, nuts and vegetables including blueberries, cranberries, cucurbits, apples, almonds, onions, celery, beets, brassica and citrus. In California alone, 850,000-plus acres of almonds require more than 1.5 million honeybee colonies … Read more