Massachusetts Integrated Pest 

 Management Guidelines for Strawberry 



Craig S. Hollingsworth 



Department of Entomology, University of Massachusetts 



Sonia G. Schloemann and Daniel R. Cooley 



Department of Plant Pathology, University of Massachusetts 



Mary Jane Else 



Department of Plant & Soil Sciences, University of Massachusetts 



Integrated Pest Management is a systems 

 approach to pest management that considers all 

 factors ultimately affecting the pest complex, 

 including plant nutrition and horticultural 

 practices, as well as elements of insect, disease, 

 and weed control. Control tactics include cul- 

 tural, biological, chemical, and mechanical 

 methods. An IPM program must be flexible, as 

 practices which are appropriate in some situa- 

 tions may not always be practical or appropriate 

 in others. 



These guidelines are designed to evaluate 

 whether or not a strawberry crop has been 

 grown under IPM. The guidelines are used in 

 the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation 

 Service (ASCS) Integrated Crop Management 

 (ICM) cost-sharing program and will be used in 

 the proposed Massachusetts Department of 

 Food & Agriculture IPM recognition program. 

 Whether a grower is enrolled in such a program 

 or not, the guidelines can be used as a checklist 

 to identify areas where pest management effi- 

 ciency might be improved. 



As a measure of grower performance, the 

 guidelines use a point system, allowing a grower 

 to choose those practices which are most suit- 

 able for a specific farm or situation. Credit or 

 partial credit may be earned for each practice, 



based on its level of completion or on the portion 

 of the farm on which it was used. Credit, 

 however, must be earned in each category. 

 Higher values are given to practices which we 

 consider essential to IPM. These are noted by 

 bold type. The required number of points is 

 approximately 70% of the total possible, not 

 including advanced IPM, optional, and experi- 

 mental practices which are worth bonus points. 



Development of the IPM Guidelines 



Guidelines were developed by interviewing 

 fruit specialists, including university faculty, 

 extension specialists, and private consultants to 

 obtain a list of best management practices. 

 Grower input was solicited through commodity 

 associations and from participants in the IPM 

 short courses. Practices were evaluated for 

 practicality and weighted by their difficulty and 

 importance to IPM. The guidelines have under- 

 gone a number of drafts and have been tested for 

 three seasons under the ASCS ICM cost-sharing 

 program, the University of Massachusetts IPM 

 program. 



These guidelines are not absolute. We ex- 

 pect them to evolve with the development of IPM 

 technology. The authors welcome comments 

 and suggestions for their improvement. 



Fruit Notes, Fall, 1992 



17 



