Project Overview

Reports

Commodities

• Fruits: apples, cherries, peaches, pears, stone fruit, tree fruit

• Human Health: workers, residents, applicators

• Natural Areas: wildlife

• Pollinators: habitat, honey bees, other

Target Pests

• Target Pests: European brown rot, aphids, apple leaf curling midge, apple maggot, apple scab, bacterial diseases, biennialism, blight (fire), brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB), fire blight (Erwinia amylovora), fly speck, fungus, herbicide resistant weeds, lepidoptera, mold, obliquebanded leafroller, oriental fruit moth, peach scab, plum curculio, potato leafhopper, powdery mildew, predatory mites, rodents, scale, sooty blotch, spider mites, spotted wing drosophila, tarnished plant bug, weeds, wildlife

Practices

• Pest Management: biological control, biorational pesticides, botanical pesticides, chemical control, cultural control, decision support system, mating disruption, monitoring/scouting, pesticide application timing, pesticide resistance management, pesticides, plant growth regulators, precision pesticide use, sanitation, traps, weather monitoring

• Crop Production: grafting, pollination/pollinator health/habitat

• Natural Resources/Environment: biodiversity, wildlife

• Production Systems: agroecosystems

• Soil Management: soil quality/health

The New England and Mid-Atlantic region has been one of the most significant tree fruit production areas in the U.S. since the 1700s, particularly for apples. In 2010, a NE IPM Partnership Grant facilitated the establishment of a Northeast Tree Fruit IPM Working group (NETFIPM working group). This group of fruit professionals, representing multiple states and organizations (research and extension scientists: entomologists, pathologists, horticulturists, extension educators, industry advisors, and consultants) from New York and New England, have met annually as the New England, New York, and Canadian Fruit Pest Management Workshop for many years.

The continuity of information and programming produced by this group is essential for the communication and adoption of IPM practices to ensure the commercial success of tree fruit growers in the Northeast. This continuity is challenged by staff turnover in both research and industry roles, ; new information on best management of pests and reports of emerging pests; erratic environmental conditions; and increased regulations around management. The activities in this proposal will ensure consistent,  reliable, and coordinated delivery of IPM knowledge and support among working group members and within the tree fruit industry in the Northeast. Specific objectives include:

1) supporting NETFIPM Working group connections and internal activities, including the annual working group meeting

2)  expanding IPM education and outreach to the regional tree fruit industry through platforms such as the NEFC webinar series. Efforts will continue to enhance regional collaborations, keep IPM priorities and practices lists up to date, and coordinate research and extension projects

The outcomes envisioned from the continued functions of this working group include: maintenance of regional institutional knowledge among IPM working group members, increased collaboration among working group members and external stakeholders, increased ongoing cross-state collaboration, and continuation of outreach activities for industry to reliably receive updates on IPM research and extension. Ultimately, this work is expected to increase adoption of IPM practices across the Northeast to ensure the success of the Tree Fruit industry. These outcomes, along with documentation of the impacts of successful fruit IPM strategies on economic, social, and environmental health, are increasingly relevant to sustainable fruit production and quality of life in the northeast region and help to link northeast regional fruit IPM objectives to the goals of the National IPM Roadmap.