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Amish and Mennonites among Attendees at Greenhouse IPM Workshop - November 2005
November 1, 2005
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. --With the growing season drawing to a close, greenhouse growers in central Pennsylvania recently attended a workshop designed to enhance their knowledge of integrated pest management and biological control.
Hosted by the Pennsylvania Integrated Pest Management Program, the workshop was held at the Black Creek Greenhouse in East Earl, Pa. The program emphasized the use of biological control, one component of a grower's IPM program. Biological control, also known as biocontrol, involves using one organism to control another. For instance, tiny non-stinging parasitoid wasps can be purchased and released into the greenhouse. These wasps find the destructive pest insect, the whitefly, and lay an egg in the pest. The wasp egg hatches and feeds on the pest, killing it. This results in good crop yield and quality and greatly reduces (and sometimes eliminates) the need for pesticides.
Integrated Pest Management, or IPM, aims to manage pests -- such as insects, diseases, weeds and animals -- by combining physical, biological and chemical tactics that are safe, profitable and environmentally compatible.
According to Cathy Thomas, PA IPM Coordinator and biocontrol specialist, the goal of the workshop was to meet with greenhouse growers she's worked with in the Amish and Mennonite communities in Lancaster County to enhance their knowledge of greenhouse pests and biological control. "Since we began working with these growers over a year ago, they've been able to significantly reduce their reliance on pesticides," says Thomas. This is crucial because usually Amish and Mennonite greenhouse operations involve the whole family. According to Thomas, overuse of pesticides and using them inappropriately can be dangerous to family members.
Currently, Thomas is showing growers how a successful IPM/biocontrol system can replace traditional pesticides. Using biologically compatible pesticides combined with biological controls, growers can slow resistance in target pests, create a safer working environment for the family, and maintain quality crops while increasing profitability when marketing them as "pesticide free."
Workshop topics included IPM basics, greenhouse insect identification, a review of major greenhouse diseases, parasitic nematodes, and biocontrol of greenhouse pests. Participants were also able to view different insects pests and biological controls with high-powered microscopes.
Thomas works with many greenhouse growers in the Lancaster and Pittsburgh areas, and she expects that number to increase. "Many farmers are shifting to greenhouse production of high-value vegetables, herbs and flowers to replace or supplement income lost from tobacco production and the low market prices of other crops," says Thomas. As demand for learning about greenhouse IPM increases, Thomas will host additional IPM workshops around the state.
The greenhouse IPM program and workshop is funded by grants from the Environmental Protection Agency and from the USDA's Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program.
The PA IPM Program has supported the greenhouse industry in Pennsylvania for over 15 years. The program has helped to develop many resources for greenhouse growers, including the manual, "Greenhouse IPM with an Emphasis on Biocontrol". The manual was developed to help greenhouse growers implement biocontrol and IPM. The full-color publication (number AGRS-96) is available as a free downloadable PDF file from Web site http://paipm.cas.psu.edu/63.htm. To order a hard copy, contact Penn State's Publications Distribution Center toll free at 1-877-345-0691. For additional greenhouse IPM resources, see the PA IPM Program's Greenhouse IPM Web site at http://paipm.cas.psu.edu/13.htm. Growers may also contact Thomas at (717) 772-5204 or by email at caththomas@state.pa.us.
The Pennsylvania IPM program is a collaboration between the Pennsylvania State University and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture aimed at promoting integrated pest management in both agricultural and nonagricultural situations. For more information, contact the program at (814) 865-2839, or Web site http://paipm.cas.psu.edu/. To view our archived news releases, see Web site http://paipm.cas.psu.edu/10.htm.