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Apple growers would like to use pesticides efficiently and diminish concerns about food safety and pesticide usage. The 1992 Apple IPM Program objectives were: 1) to demonstrate the application of Integrated Pest Management practices in commercial orchards and, 2) to provide the training and support needed to help these growers become self sufficient in IPM practices. Grower training meetings and regular scouting of the orchards were the primary educational methods. End-of-the-season evaluations of past and disease incidence were made. Except for Frogeye Leaf Spot, there were no significant differences in insect pest, disease levels or in fruit quality attributes in IPM versus standard blocks. The IPM blocks had significantly more mite incidence. Growers did produce commercially acceptable crops using IPM based decisions while reducing the average past control cost by $56 par acre. Educational programs did help growers to be more proficient in making IPM based decisions.
Four different netting types were evaluated in the field for excluding Japanese beetles and green June beetles from `Dirksen' thornless blackberry plants. These nets were bird net, crop net, rack mesh, and Agryl P17. Observations were made in an unreplicated trial on `Reliance' grapes using OV3018 and OV7100 nets in addition to those listed. Plants were not sprayed with insecticides or fungicides after net application. Rack mesh appears to be the best net of those evaluated during a dry season for excluding Japanese beetles and green June beetles on thornless blackberries and grapes. Plants covered with rack mesh had minimal fruit and foliage damage due to insects and fruit rot. The use of rack mesh eliminated the need for insecticide sprays for 53 days on thornless blackberries and 41 days on grapes. Light intensity was reduced by the netting, but did not reduce (hornless blackberry yield or soluble solids; however it did unacceptably reduce `Reliance' grape fruit coloration.
The East African highland bananas are a sub-group of the Musa AAA group and are unique to the mid-altitude and highlands of Eastern Africa. In much of the area where they are grown, highland bananas are the main staple crop for both rural and urban populations. Yields of highland bananas have fallen precipitously in many areas and production deficits have been met by shifting highland banana production into new areas. Yield reductions have been attributed to a number of factors, including plant parasitic nematodes, the banana weevil (Cosmopolites sordidus), and black Sigatoka leaf streak (Mycosphaerella fijiensis). A program to breed improved highland bananas was established at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture's Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Center (IITA-ESARC) in collaboration with the National Banana Program of Uganda in 1994. Following preliminary studies of fertility, breeding began in 1997. The breeding program has taken as its model IITA's successful plantain-breeding program. The plantain-breeding program has used an ideotype breeding approach to selection of improved plantain hybrids. The unique features, culture, and end-use of highland bananas have necessitated the definition of a new ideotype. Results of studies during the past 2 years have identified traits unique to highland bananas and a highland banana ideotype has emerged.
Abstract
The environment created by ventilating a greenhouse with mine-air was suitable for the production of high quality spray chrysanthemums (Chrysanthemum morifolium Ramat.) and snapdragons (Antirrhinum majus L.) from mid-February through November without any additional energy requirement. The environment created in the greenhouse from December to February was extremely humid and favored botrytis development and physiological problems which reduced crop quality.