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Pests Under Siege at Biocontrol Conference - March 1998
March 25, 1998
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA -- A lightening-fast spider attacking a plant-damaging pest was just part of the day’s excitement at the recently held 1998 Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Workshop on Biological Control at Villanova University. Biocontrol is controlling pests using their natural enemies such as predators, parasites and diseases.
Presented by the Southeast Pennsylvania IPM Research Group, attendees included ground managers, aborists, landscape contractors, tree and shrub producers, garden center personnel, and other professional horticulturists. They participated in hands-on lab workshops exploring pests and IPM techniques as well as lectures dealing with biocontrol strategies presented by experts in the field. Additional information provided by participating vendors also helped attendees learn about the practices of IPM and biological control in their business or job.
The lectures dealt with issues like handling and applying biocontrol strategies to protect valuable plants in the landscape from such threats as devastating insects and disease without using routine applications of pesticides. Another session focused on key plants that harbor the most pest problems in the landscape and replacing them with more resistant varieties. Lecturers also addressed plant cultural issues, including such problems as poorly drained soils leading to fungi like root rot.
Attendees were then able to choose from 10 different lab sessions that allowed them to participate in identifying beneficial pests and do-it-yourself tests to determine disease in plants. One session included close-up video of beneficial insects attacking pests, while another incorporated samples of beneficials in egg and larvae form and instructions on how to apply them to the foliage. Such alternatives to using chemical pesticides in the landscape are becoming an important topic as the public becomes more concerned over environmental awareness.
Biocontrol is part of the larger IPM system to managing pests such as insects, diseases, weeds and animals by integrating appropriate physical, biological and chemical tactics that are safe, profitable and environmentally compatible. The Pennsylvania IPM program is a collaboration between Penn State University and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture aimed at promoting integrated pest management in both agricultural and nonagricultural situations.