SIR
IMPLEMENTATION TRIALS
At
the 1999 BC Fruit Growers Convention in Penticton, SIR was charged
with reporting back at the end of the year with an assessment of the
programs efficacy and a cost analysis for future years.
One
goal is to allow SIR to begin to pass on options or alternatives for
codling moth control to growers as part of the year-end report.
As
part of this analysis, SIR will look at all areas of the current
program and also at what options could be offered as part of a
revised format in the future.
Starting
this spring, SIR will be a partner with Agriculture and Agrifood
Canada, the Ministry of Agriculture and
Food, BC Fruit Packers and
other agencies in a series of "Implementation Trials" in the
Kelowna area.
The
two-year studies will compare several codling moth control methods
(including sir) and combinations of the different methods to
demonstrate the technologies and assess the most effective and cost
efficient way of eliminating codling moth.
Individual
orchard and urban trials will be conducted under the supervision of
BCMAF entomologist Hugh Philip and BC Fruit Packers fieldman Bob
Fisher-Fleming. The trials will take place in four or five 15-20
acre test blocks at Kelowna Land and Orchard Co. Ltd. and eight
separate city block locations in Kelowna.
The
use of standard organophosphates, sterile insect technology, mating
disruption and softer pesticides will be compared and combined at
various application rates. A
new attract and kill technology, "Last Call" will be
tested in both commercial orchard and urban settings.
"Last Call" is applied in a thick paste containing
pheromone to attract male codling moth and the insecticide,
permethrin, to kill them. Its
possible uses include commercial orchards, back yard and
non-commercial trees and bin piles.
Last Call is pest specific, has a low toxicity level to
humans and no reentry date attached to it.
IPM
Technologies, the makers of "Last Call" hope to
have it registered for the spring of 2001.
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