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The Massachusetts floriculture industry is composed of approximately
900 greenhouse ranges with 9 million square feet of
growing area, and a crop value of approximately $115 million. Pest management
strategies for greenhouse crops differs from
those used in production of edible crops in that, while the presence of
a few insect, mites, or pathogens may not necessarily
reduce the yield or vigor of plants, their aesthetic quality, and therefore
their value, are reduced.
The goals of the Greenhouse Crops IPM project are to achieve success
in the management of greenhouse pests while reducing the use of pesticides
and substituting lower risk materials and economical, effective pest suppression
using natural enemies. Participating growers have been able to reduce
pesticide use by an average of 27%, while concomitantly reducing insect
pest damage by an average of 87%.
Roy Van Driesche, of the Department of Entomology at UMASS, is the entomologist
working with the Floriculture
Team with the broad goal of developing new biological control options
for pest control in greenhouse flower and bedding plant crops. Current
work is focused on developing new biological control agents for western
flower thrips in bedding plants. Two projects are underway on western
flower thrips. One is an investigation of the biology of a new kind of
nematode, Thriponema nicklewoodi, that sterilizes adult thrips. The other
is an assessment of the relative value of eight species of predatory phytoseiid
mites as predators of WFT as well as the value of pollen applications
in enhancing their populations. The nematode work is being done in cooperation
with Kevin Heinz of Texas A&M University by UnTaek Lim, a Ph.D. student
at UMass. The project on predacious mites for control of western flower
thrips in bedding plants and cost reductions for whitefly biological control
in poinsettia are being done by Suzanne Lyon, who is also running outreach
programs for growers interested in biological control. In 2002, Ball will
publish a new book for growers on biological control in greenhouse vegetable
and flower crops, edited by Kevin Heinz, Roy Van Driesche and Michael
Parrella (of UC Davis).
Greenhouse IPM Project Team members are: T.M. Smith, R.G. Van Driesche,
D. Cox, R. Wick, and P. Lopes.
Additional IPM information and articles can be found at the Floriculture
Team site.
Selected IPM Articles:
2001 Annual
Report 
IPM Scouting
and Decision Making
Western Flower Thrips: Biology
And Control
Fungus Gnats and Shore
Flies
A Grower's Guide to Using
Biological Control for Silverleaf Whitefly on Poinsettias in the N.E.
United States
Pointsettia - IPM
Guidelines
Pest Management for Herbs
Pest Management for
Vegetable Bedding Plants
Botrytis Blight of Greenhouse
Crops
Managing Weeds in Your Greenhouse
Natural Enemies for Greenhouse Pests
Part I: How to
Use Living Organisms for Pest Control
Part II: Parasites and Predators
Part
III: Selection and Buying of Natural Enemies Species
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