IPM Corner

Summer is here, and we’re halfway through 2019 already! Why not get jump on finishing up your continuing education units by taking online courses from the UC Statewide IPM Program (UC IPM). If you are a license or certificate holder from the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR), and your last name begins with the letters M through Z, you should be receiving your renewal packet in August.

We’re excited to announce some changes.

• In January, we switched all of our online courses to a located at https://campus.extension.org/. This new system has extensive technical support, is easier to navigate, and is more stable than the old one. Note that the extension platform offers courses from all across the country, including several providers from California. Look for the UC IPM logo to be sure you are taking one of our courses.

• We are pleased to announce that a was added to our citrus integrated pest management IPM series. Dr. Beth Grafton-Cardwell, a citrus IPM specialist...

Here is the link of the article that I wrote for the West Coast Nut magazine. Mostly, this article covers pest monitoring tools, and use of navel orangeworm mating disruption in nut crops. 

Here is the article that I wrote for UCCE San Joaquin Field Notes Newsletter (Nov. 2018 Issue, pg. 3-4) about the recent infestations of Pacific flatheaded borer in walnut orchards especially in the east side of San Joaquin and Stanislaus Counties.

Here, I have added an article published in the 'West Coast Nut' magazine (June Issue, 2018).

Brown marmorated stink bug in California isn’t news since it’s been present in urban areas for a while. The breaking news is that brown marmorated stink bug is starting to make its way into agricultural production areas. Unfortunately, wherever brown marmorated stink bug takes up residence, it causes severe crop losses.

Established populations have been reported in urban areas of 16 California counties. Monitoring in agricultural orchards and vineyards began when established populations were noticed in urban areas. In 2017, brown marmorated stink bug began to cause damage in agriculture, infesting commercial almond and peach orchards. This trend of infestation has been much more severe in 2018. Multiple almond orchards reported brown marmorated stink bug infestation, leading to yield loss in a few cases, in the northern San Joaquin Valley.

Brown marmorated stink bug can reach very high numbers, and since adults and all immature stages (except the first instar) can actively feed on many f...

‘Tis the season for baking lots of tasty treats. Breads, cookies, cakes, and candy are just a few that come to mind. What makes many of these treats so tasty is the addition of almonds or walnuts to the list of ingredients.

In California, we are lucky to be at the center of almond and walnut production. According to the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s (CDFA’s) latest Agricultural Statistics Review, more than 99% of the almonds and walnuts produced in the United States are grown in California.

Almond and walnut growers work tirelessly to supply enough nuts to not only satisfy domestic demand, but also for export. Worldwide, almonds rank as the largest specialty crop export. California is the top almond producer in the world, accounting for about 80% of all almonds grown. For walnuts, California ranks as the second largest producer in the world. To keep up with this demand, almond and walnut growers must be constantly aware of pests, diseases, and abiotic problems that can...

November has arrived, and before you know it we’ll be ringing in 2018! For those who hold a license or certificate from the Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR), and have a last name starting with the letter M through Z, this is your year to renew.

DPR is urging license and certificate holders to mail in applications now to avoid late fees and to allow enough time for processing so that you can receive your new license or certificate by the beginning of the new year. Renewing early gives DPR time to notify you if you are short any continuing education (CE) hours and allows you time to complete any additional CE courses without having to retest.

If you need more hours to complete your renewal application and don’t have time to attend an in-person meeting, then check out the online courses available from the UC Statewide IPM Program (UC IPM). Here is the full website address if the one above does not work.

http://ipm.ucanr.edu/training/?src=1106ceucor

The following UC IPM and UC Agricult...

Brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) is a new invasive insect pest of several crops including tree fruits, ornamentals, vegetable and field crops. This stink bug decimated mainly tree fruits, peaches and apples in the Mid-Atlantic region in the year 2010, and since then, it has become a major pest that needs an aggressive management program to keep the population under control during the growing season there. In California, BMSB population has been noticeably high beginning Fall-2013 in Sacramento midtown/downtown areas and has been a severe nuisance problem there. To date, there are 9 Counties with reproducing BMSB population reported in residential areas; however, BMSB detection in agricultural crops in California is very new. In fact, the CAPCA article linked here is the first report of finding BMSB in any crops in California. We are catching BMSB in traps in commercial peach orchards in the current season as well. In few instances, we found eggs, nymphs, and adults feeding on peaches,...

I am organizing an IPM Field Meeting on 15 June (Thursday) from 9-11am in an almond orchard in Ballico, CA (Oakdale Rd & East Ave.). We are going to cover monitoring and management aspects of mites, ants, and navel orangeworm in almonds. See Location and other details here.