/WEBSITES/tomato/images/minitomatologo.gif)
Ecologically Smart Choices Outlined in Tomato Year-round Program
The Tomato Magazine
February 2007
One of California’s tomato research leaders hails the University
of California Statewide Integrated Pest Management tomato
year-round IPM program as an integral part of sustainable farm
management for processing tomatoes.
“The new tomato IPM year-round program was designed to encompass
many of those farming aspects not traditionally considered pest
management and to serve as the main UC documentation of best farming
practices in processing tomatoes,” says Charles Rivara, director
of California Tomato Research Institute, Inc. “It’s also
a major component
of our forthcoming self-assessment workbook of sustainable
practices.”
The year-round IPM programs identify major activities growers
need to do at each crop growing stage to implement a comprehensive
IPM program and can be found at www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG.
“The year-round format is a welcome addition to the already popular
IPM pest management guidelines,” says Rivara. “For years,
tomato
growers and their advisors have been using the guidelines for pest
management issues. Processing tomatoes was one of the first crops to
benefi t from applied UC IPM research and continues to benefit from
UC innovation such as water quality, disease modeling and pest sampling.
With its history of scientifi c quality and independence, UC brings
so much to our efforts to develop a sustainable tomato program.”
The tomato year-round IPM program covers the major pests of
tomatoes for processing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys.
Growers who use the year-round IPM program for tomatoes
can earn $125 per acre through the California Natural Resources
Conservation Service’s Environmental Quality Incentives Program
in
2008.
Based on UC research and expertise, the year-round IPM programs
provide annual checklists that guide farmers through a year of
monitoring pests, making management decisions, and planning for the
following season.
The year-round program provides practical tools for growers
and PCAs such as season-specifi c activity checklists that integrate
management practices for insects, mites, pathogens, weeds, nematodes
and vertebrate pests into a thorough IPM program. Each checklist item
links to a UC IPM pest management guideline for in-depth information
on how to carry out management practices, monitor for pests, and
choose appropriate management tools.
The programs also outline specifi c IPM practices that reduce water
quality risks and other environmental problems. Problem pesticides are
identified through the UC IPM WaterTox database that rates available
options according to their potential to damage water quality. Growers
following these procedures should meet the requirements of the
Clean Water Act and avoid off-site movement of toxic pesticides into
waterways.
The tomato year-round program also offers detailed procedures for
determining the need for treatments for pests such as potato aphids
and fruitworm and includes monitoring procedures, record-keeping
forms, treatment thresholds, and photos of important pests and natural
enemies.
© 2007 Columbia
Publishing
>> Return to top
Columbia Publishing & Design | 1-800-900-2452
www.tomatomagazine.com