During 1984, Bill Manning and Dan Cooley monitored Venturia inaequalis 

 (apple scab) inoculum levels, delivered infection potential information to 

 growers via twice weekly pest alert messages, monitored orchards for new or 

 unusual disease outbreaks (e.g., blossom end rots, a canker and dieback 

 disease, and fungicide resistant V. inaequalis strains), and made control 

 recommendations for specific disease problems on request. 



The V. inaequalis inoculum monitoring and pest message program involved 

 several people from Bill Manning's laboratory and ran from April 1 to June 

 15. In addition, adaptive studies of apple fungicide use were performed. 

 Tests included an extended kick-back fungicide, a reduced rate of a standard 

 fungicide (Captan) and a new, non-toxic polymer, all of which have the 

 potential to reduce overall fungicide use in the state. 



Regional Fruit Speicialists Jim Williams and Karen Hauschild either 

 performed weekly scouting or collected overwintered scab-infested leaves for 

 laboratory assays of pathogen developmental state. Other information 

 collected by private sector scout/consultants was also used to develop 

 twice-weekly pest status messages, sent by computer from the University to 

 regional specialists who then sent this information to growers in newsletter 

 and 24 hour "code-a-phone" hotline formats. From early April through early 

 bloom, utilization of the "code-a-phone" increased by about 20% over 1983. 

 Unfortunately, technical problems caused failure of Jim Williams' machine 

 between May 15 and 21, and again between June 11 and July 13. Periods of 

 peak calling were associated with the end of primary scab season and times 

 when spray decisions were being made for Plum curculio, Apple maggot fly and 

 second generation Leafminer. 



A major goal was achieved with the publication of a 41 page manual 

 entitled "Integrated Management of Apple Pests in Massachusetts and New 

 England." This bulletin was funded in part by fruit grower contributions 

 and by a grant from USDA. The manual contains nearly 100 color photographs 

 for field identification of all major insect, mite and disease pests of New 

 England. Also included are sections on Vertebrate pest management and 

 Integrated ground cover management. Copies are available for $4.00 each 

 from : 



Bulletin Center 



Cottage A 



University of Massachusetts 



Amherst, MA 01003 



Insect/Mite pest status and harvest injury, 1984 . Table 1 contains results 

 oT private sector and extension IFM harvest surveys in 1984, and compares 

 these to statewide averages of insect harvest injury in IPM blocks for 

 1978-1983. Overall pest injury appears to be down in 1984 compared to the 

 6-year averages, in spite of substantial rainfall during the early portion 

 of the pest control season. 



Once again, the tarnished plant bug (TPB) caused the highest percent 

 fruit injury detected in on-tree harvest surveys. However, 1984 TPB injury 

 was about half of previous amounts. Most TPB injury we observed was one or 

 two "dimples" in the fruit calyx, rather than more extensive "scabbing" seen 



