By Jaci Schreckengost Many Florida strawberry and blueberry growers face similar challenges when managing mites and insects. Chilli thrips affect strawberries by feeding on the foliage and fruit of the crop. The pest affects blueberries by feeding on new growth in the spring and summer. Chilli thrips are relatively new to Florida growers, said Justin Renkema, assistant professor at the …
The Complex World of Insecticide Modes of Action
Selecting insecticides can be extremely cumbersome and complex. Ayanava Majumdar, Auburn University Extension entomologist, says there are five different “mode of action” categories that can help conventional growers decide what kind of insecticide will be most effective in their production systems. The five categories are contact poisons, insect growth regulators, mitochondrial or cellular respiration inhibitors, Bacillus thuringiensis and the unknown. …
Integrated Pest Management for Spotted Wing Drosophila
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative allows researchers in many parts of the United States to help find organic management strategies for devastating pests in their area. Ashfaq Sial, assistant professor at the University of Georgia, said he is using this initiative to research the spotted wing drosophila (SWD), …











