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Biological Control Helps Growers Comply with New Laws |
Public concern for human health and the environment led to new laws regulating pesticide use. Greenhouse operators in southwestern Michigan are turning to biological control to comply with the new restrictions and keep their businesses safe and profitable. Even though suppliers offer beneficial insects for greenhouse use, growers need better directions for using them and more assurance that they will provide the necessary protection.
Greenhouse growers worked with Michigan State University Extension faculty and agents, as well as area scouts, to determine effective biological control procedures. Several growers volunteered sections of their greenhouses for an experiment in which scouts released predators and made weekly visits to monitor pest populations. If growers could delay sprays, some plants could be shipped without insecticides while others would require fewer applications. After three years, these growers determined that many bedding plant greenhouses do not need an insecticide spray until April or early May. (Growers usually begin preventative insecticide sprays in February, soon after seeding.)
Growers are pleased that scouting is helping them reduce their need for pesticide sprays. They continue to experiment with biological control, and after several years, a significant number of growers use predators.
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[Integrated Pest Management in the North Central States] |
[National Integrated Pest Management Network] |