Integrated pest management (IPM) systems have been characterized as falling along a continuum from those which are more chemically intensive, such as pest scouting alone, to those which are biologically intensive and do not require pesticide use. Many major pests of processing tomatoes have well-developed treatment decision rules, and can be controlled by IPM tactics. Scouting techniques and thresholds are used for tomato fruitworm, armyworms, tomato pinworm, stink bugs, potato aphid, whiteflies, nematodes and weeds. Risk assessment models or phenology models are available for powdery mildew, tomato fruitworm, and stink bugs, and are being evaluated for blackmold and late blight. Precision farming can already target areas of fields for herbicide applications. Reduced risk pesticides are available for certain species of arthropods and diseases, and include biologicals, botanicals, inorganic minerals, and new chemistries such as neonicotinoids and insect growth regulators. Most of these provide alternatives to pesticides under regulatory scrutiny. Variable rate applications can reduce herbicide rates. Crop rotation, irrigation management, sanitation, clean seeds and transplants, delayed planting, cultivation and hand weeding are methods of avoiding or preventing pest damage in some situations without pesticide intervention. Biological controls such as parasite releases, microbial pesticides, resistant or tolerant tomato varieties and pheromone mating disruption also have application in processing tomato production. Both University-led and private sector efforts have been important in developing and implementing IPM for processing tomatoes.
Keywords: vegetables
Back to IPM For Vegetable Crops Destined For The Processing Market
Back to Formal Conferences
Back to The 2002 ESA Annual Meeting and Exhibition