Mushroom Industry Spawns IPM
| Pennsylvania Mushroom Industry Spawns IPM |
|
photo by Carrie Koplinka-Loehr
Pennsylvania, the number one state for mushroom production in the United
States, is also a national leader for mushroom IPM. More than 250 farms
produce the common button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus), and most of these
farms have been influenced by 70 years of IPM research and Extension activities
at Pennsylvania State University.
Mushroom production has its own lingo, from the "ricks" or rows
of compost that will serve as food for the mushrooms, to the "spawn"-the
pieces of grain coated with mycelia that will eventually fruit into the
mushrooms we buy in the store. Mushroom production also has its pests, such
as "weed" molds, Sciarid flies, and verticillium disease. In the
past, Pennsylvania mushroom managers depended on chemical pesticides to
manage pests, but now they employ specific insect growth regulators. They
also rely on physical, cultural, and biological controls in the process
of growing 47 percent of the nation's mushrooms.
Phil Coles, the project manager at Giorgi Mushroom Company, has a motto:
Cleanliness is the name of the game. Compost is meticulously blended to
provide the nutrients required by the particular mycelium that produces
the crop. When compost is placed in the mushroom house it is steam pasteurized,
then pasteurized again after production.
To curtail other pest problems, many mushroom producers now grow the crop
in 10 weeks, rather than 14 weeks. They monitor blacklight traps (shown
above) that attract insects. They seal cracks and filter intake air to exclude
organisms, and they release beneficial insects.
Producers are seeing results with IPM. Pest problems are down, and savings
are up. For example, the pesticide bill at Giorgi Mushroom Company has been
steadily dropping despite the fact that the company has grown and pesticide
prices have risen. Says Phil, "Pesticide use has decreased dramatically.
On a pound basis, it's down 90 percent."
State IPM Coordinator
Edwin Rajotte
509 Agricultural Science and Industries
Department of Entomology
Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA 16802
814 863 4641; ed_rajotte@agcs.cas.psu.edu
return to IPM in the Northeast Region 1996 Report, Table
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