MOVING BEYOND PESTICIDES - A TEAM EFFORT Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is becoming an increasingly popular method for farmers to manage insects using a combination methods including cultural, biological and chemical controls.
CASE STUDY
Berry Exchange, part of the Costa Exchange group, owns two large farms in Tasmania producing A-grade fresh market berries. The Dunorlan property produces only raspberries, while the larger site located near Sulphur Creek grows blueberries, raspberries and strawberries. Between the two properties they have over 24 hectares of established raspberry plantings and are the largest fresh market growers in the state. Over the past two years, manager Cameron Folder has been implementing IPM in the raspberries in an effort to move away from using chemical insecticides and to improve insect control. “In previous years we had tried chemical control of some insects like the green shield bug and had little or no success, so I didn’t have a lot of faith in the chemical solutions for the pest problems.” Reducing spray applications also creates a more pleasant working environment for staff, minimises pesticide residues on the fruit and does not jeopardise bee activity and pollination. There are a number of key insect pests in the raspberry operation, some which directly reduce yield by causing damage and other’s which hitch a ride in the punnets, contaminating harvested fruit and causing market rejections. Since recently moving from field grown production to protecting the plants under multispan tunnels, the two-spotted spider mite (TSSM) has become a major pest. TSSM feed on the foliage with their “piercing-sucking” mouthparts and remove plant juices, initially causing fine white speckling on the surface of the leaf and white webbing on the underside. As the population increases the leaves turn bronze before dying and falling off. The webbing also spreads and can end up covering the entire plant. Cameron sources commercial predatory mites for biological control of the TSSM. He relies exclusively on these predatory mites (P. persimilis) rather than using insecticides. Being able to identify the early signs of TSSM damage is extremely important for timely and accurate control using Persimilis.
“.. The biggest impact this season has been an increase in knowledge among the staff about IPM practices …”
Cameron has been working closely with Paul Horne and Jessica Page from IPM Technologies to gain a greater understanding of how to monitor and manage the TSSM as well as the other bugs, beetles and caterpillars that become contaminant issues in his raspberries. Over the last season he also had on-farm support from Rebecca Clarkson of Serve-Ag to assist in educating his staff in insect identification and monitoring. “The support we received this last season in helping staff with monitoring has got them skilled up so we can have more people on the farm knowing what they are looking for, being able to identify what they find and not panicking so much when they see pest infestations.” Staff are now able to identify pest and beneficial insects which will assist in preventing pests becoming a threat to crop production. Staff have embraced the IPM approach and displayed a real passion for creating a sustainable production system and working environment.
Berry Exchange raspberry production manger Cameron Folder