Project Overview

Reports

Commodities

• Fruits: pears

Target Pests

• Target Pests: fire blight (Erwinia amylovora), insects, other

Practices

• Pest Management: cultural control, decision support system, habitat modification, monitoring/scouting, traps

• Production Systems: agroecosystems, organic agriculture, other

Pear psylla, Cacopsylla pyri, causes significant damage to pear in most growing regions of the United States. Damage results from psylla’s secretion of honeydew which serves as a substrate for fungi that cause sooty mold. Additionally, psylla is as a vector for a phytoplasma causing pear decline. Psylla is difficult to manage due to overlapping seasonal generations and insecticide resistance development.

Water sprout removal is an IPM strategy for psylla. Vigorous upright shoots develop on pear in late spring and early summer providing ideal feeding and breeding sites for psylla. Stripping shoots is said to reduce damage by removing in-host pest reservoir potential. Growers hesitate to implement this strategy stating they do not have time to accomplish this practice. With little evidence to be found to the contrary, growers often believe it is more economical and effective to make material applications for psylla management than to implement water sprout removal. There is also a concern that this practice will increase fireblight outbreaks in the orchard. Fireblight, caused by Erwinia amylovora, is a significant disease in pear in the U.S. Trauma events, for example wounds resulting from water sprout removal, can cause infection.

There are serious concerns and barriers to adoption of water sprout removal as an IPM practice.

This project proposes to conduct research aimed at quantifying practical level of water sprout removal necessary to achieve sufficient psylla population and damage reduction to warrant implementing the practice. This proposal seeks to assess costs in labor time used and potential fireblight risk associated with this practice. This project may potentially provide pear growers in the Northeastern U.S. with an effective psylla management tool that may mitigate insecticide resistance development through psylla population reduction and by concentrating populations in lower canopy branches increasing efficacy of traditional and reduced risk materials used for management.

Objective 1. Assess the efficacy and practicality of water sprout removal as a cost effective IPM strategy to reduce pear psylla population levels in MA, VT, and NH orchards.

This objective directly addresses the Northeast IPM Center’s applied research goals by (1) designing and implementing field-based research to determine practical level of water sprout removal necessary to effectively achieve psylla population and damage reduction and is intended to maximize labor efficiency and increase efficacy of materials applied for management of psylla, (2) Participating growers will learn first-hand the efficacy of water sprout removal as a psylla population reduction technique as well as the potential costs associated with the practice increasing its potential for adoption by these growers and others in their networks and the Northeast. This practice will contribute to the National IPM Roadmap goals by 3) showing the benefit of the practice through reduced psylla populations.

Objective 2. Assess potential fireblight occurrence resulting from wounds caused by water sprout removal.

Concerns regarding off target negative effects of IPM practices like water sprout removal can decrease the adoption of such practices. 1) If our findings indicate that there is no or low risk of fireblight occurrence resulting from water sprout removal, then this project will 2) strengthen growers’ confidence in implementing this practice. This objective supports the National IPM Road Map’s goal of increasing IPM adoption.

Objective 3. Provide field-based research training to one undergraduate student through a formal internship integrating hands-on, applied research and Extension

Educating students in applied IPM research and Extension will be a critical step in promoting IPM practices in the future. The proposed internship will 1) provide one undergraduate student with practical field experience with IPM and applied agricultural research, 2) build their scientific communication skills through reporting of scouting and research findings directly to growers and in contributing to newsletters and other Extension publications. 3)This objective serves the National IPM Road Map goals of strengthening IPM development and adoption through educating the next generation of IPM Educators and researchers.