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Indiana Melon Growers Use Scouting to Control Pests |
The striped cucumber beetle is a serious pest to Indiana melon growers because it carries a bacterium that causes bacterial wilt of cucurbits. Research has shown that early in the season, when the beetle population is largest, only one percent of the striped cucumber beetles are capable of transmitting bacterial wilt to muskmelons. Even so, growers have traditionally controlled the beetle using a soil-applied insecticide at planting, followed by eight to 10 weekly foliar-applied insecticides.
Then in 1992, an integrated pest management (IPM) scouting program began in southwestern Indiana. IPM scouts alerted growers to infestations and found disease problems before they became serious. According to growers, 1992 was the worst year for cucumber beetles and bacterial wilt in the last 10 years. However, the IPM program lowered the use of insecticides by more than 60 percent and reduced levels of bacterial wilt. Insecticide use for secondary pests also was lowered because natural enemies were not killed by initial applications. Also as a result of the program, scouting of vegetable crops is a new industry in southwestern Indiana.
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[Integrated Pest Management in the North Central States] |
[National Integrated Pest Management Network] |