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INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT IN MASSACHUSETTS APPLE ORCHARDS 



G.L. Jensen, E.J. Blyth and A.W. Rossi 

 University of Massachusetts 



1 



Integrated control may be defined as an ecological approach 

 to pest management in which several available techniques are con- 

 solidated into a unified program. Such programs are set up to 

 avoid economic damage and minimize adverse side effects in manage' 

 ment of pest populations 



Integrated control programs are desired for several reasons 



1. Plant feeding mites and, to a lesser degree, insects, very 

 rapidly develop strains resistant to chemicals, necessitating the 

 constant development and substitution of new chemicals. 



2. Predators and parasites of many orchard pests are found to a 

 greater or lesser degree in all fruit growing areas. The benefi- 

 cial effects from these cannot be realized if they are killed by 



i nsecti cides . 



3. Integrated pest management systems rely on reduced spray appli' 

 cations, hence they help to reduce any possible environmental pol- 

 lution by spray chemicals in orchards. 



4. The use of reduced spray (as recommended in some integrated 

 control programs) reduces the cash expended for chemicals and in 

 some cases the amount of time spent in applying these materials. 



5. Systems utilizing biological control tend to become increasing' 

 ly more efficient from year to year as beneficial insects build up 

 in the orchards (in contrast to chemical control programs which 

 tend to become less effective as the pests develop resistance to 



i n s e c t i d e s ) . 



6. Biological controls have great public appeal, especially in 

 this period of great ecological concern and awareness. 



There are, however^ several difficulties associated with in- 

 tegrating chemical and biological controls of orchard pests: 



Extension Entomologist, Graduate Student, Dept 

 Orchard Foreman, respectively. 



of Entomology and 



