Developing innovative tactics for pest management in asparagus

Insect pests are a major constraint to successful asparagus production, reducing long-term crop yields and imposing considerable costs for growers. However, agrochemical producers have little financial incentive to produce products targeted for asparagus pests since asparagus makes up less than one percent of total US vegetable production. This makes pest management tactics that promote natural enemy diversity and reduce pesticide use an important production goal. We explored the effect of habitat management and attract-and-kill strategy on the abundance of key pests (asparagus miners, asparagus beetles, and Japanese beetles). We investigated how floral resources influence the abundance of natural enemy and pest populations in order to identify those flowering plant species that offer the most effective biological control. Finally, we field tested attract-and-kill tactics known to kill Japanese beetles to determine a spatial distribution of attract-and-kill devices most useful for asparagus growers. Combined, results from these projects will improve pest management in asparagus, offering new tools to growers.