With federal crop insurance as a safety net, five apple growers in Vermont
and New Hampshire are launching new IPM techniques to reduce apple scab.
Across the nation, a five- to eight-year lag exists between when an IPM
technique is developed through research and when growers adopt the new technique
on their farms. The "Whole Farm" Apple Scab IPM Project provides
the necessary link between small-scale research and industry-wide extension.
Participants in this project test IPM methods in a full orchard before the
methods are extended to other growers. The Federal Crop Insurance Program
plays a crucial role of protecting each acre with crop insurance. The cost
to the grower is just a few dollars per acre.
Apple scab is a serious disease caused by a fungus that overwinters on infected
fallen leaves. If uncontrolled, scab results in severely blemished fruit
that is largely unmarketable. Certain apple varieties are more susceptible
than others. McIntosh apples, which constitute 62 percent of the New England
apple crop, are particularly vulnerable. If scab does occur and the apples
must be sold for processing instead of as a higher priced fresh-market crop,
the farmers are insured for the difference between the two prices.
In the past, growers would begin spraying fungicides in the spring without
knowing their orchard's potential for disease. Through this project, the
orchard's potential for apple scab is assessed in the fall. If the potential
is low, fungicide applications can be delayed in the spring, reducing the
total number of applications for that year. Growers can also reduce the
potential for disease by cleaning orchards, mowing overwintered leaves,
and applying urea to hasten the decomposition of the leaf litter.
State IPM Coordinator
Lorraine Berkett
University of Vermont; Department of Plant and Soil Science
Hills Building; Burlington, VT 05405
802-656 0972; lberkett@moose.uvm.edu
return to IPM in the Northeast Region 1996 Report, Table
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