IPM eases whitefly crisis in Rio Grande Valley

Problem: More than one-fourth of the workers in the Rio Grande Valley depend on agriculture-related jobs. In 1991, the Valley lost 4,355 jobs from extensive crop damage caused by unprecedented numbers of sweetpotato whiteflies. The Valley's economy lost $168.5 million caused primarily by reduced yields.

Clouds of whiteflies rotated in a vicious cycle from one host crop to another, ultimately threatening cotton, the Valley's top cash crop.

IPM Response: IPM scientists formed a task force that worked with industries and producers to develop IPM methods to address the crisis. Because of the year-round growing season, cooperation among producers was essential for effective control. The team issued nine IPM recommendations for whitefly management. Topping the list was destroying old crop residues that harbor whitefly infestation.

In 1992, whitefly populations were only one-fifth of what they were in 1991. Scientists credit IPM techniques for this success . By plowing under crop residues after harvest and delaying planting of subsequent crops, producers were able to drastically reduce whitefly populations and delay whitefly buildup for an entire year. Cotton farmers switched to planting smooth-leaf varieties in 1992 because they harbored fewer whiteflies and had less impact on yield.

IPM practices provided immediate relief for Valley farmers and have helped to keep the whitefly under control ever since.

IPM tames spotted wilt virus in South Texas peanuts

Problem: Peanuts are big money in the Texas Winter Garden. Some 37,900 acres produced 18.8 million pounds of peanuts in Frio and Atascosa counties alone in 1992. Crop damage can be devastating to producers and the local economy.

Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus, a plant disease spread by insect pests called thrips, hit the area hard. Estimated losses in Frio County alone stood at more than $5 million in 1986, one particularly bad year. The area took another beating in 1990 and 1991. There was no effective control available.

IPM Response: An IPM team of scientists working with the Texas Peanut Producers Board sought ways to protect producer profits by keeping yields high through intensive insect and disease management.

The team's research showed that the virus could be reduced greatly by delaying peanut planting until the soil warmed in May and June. The team advocated reducing insecticide use to avoid killing too many naturally occurring parasites and predators of other peanut pests.

Thanks to IPM, peanut yields increased 455 pounds per acre while insecticide use dropped 29 percent. The bottom line was a net increase in returns of $266 per acre. The region has enjoyed a $1.2 million to $4.6 million annual benefit from the program.

Pea patches pay big IPM dividends for West Texas pecans

Problem: Pecans are a $15 million dollar industry in Far West Texas, but noxious pests can be tough on orchards.

Stink bugs ruin pecans by inserting their needle-like beaks through the shells and feeding on the developing kernels. The nuts develop dark spots and a bitter taste. Stink bugs are hard to scout in orchards, and because growers don't know the severity of the problem, they can use too much insecticide.

IPM Response: An IPM team working with pecan producers and Extension agents in Culberson County demonstrated the effectiveness of planting small plots of southern peas as a trap crop in orchards. The stink bugs were more attracted to the peas than the pecans, resulting in less nut damage.

Orchards with the trap crop saw stink bug damage reduced by 90 percent compared to orchards without the control. This translated into a $29 per acre increase in grower income and a $9 return for every dollar invested in the trap crop.

Pecan growers cut back on sprayings with IPM

Problem: For many Texans, the pecan is Texas in a nutshell. Pecans aren't easy to grow commercially, however, because they have a host of insect and disease problems. A 1991 survey found that many growers used chemicals heavily to combat pests.

Needless insecticide applications are expensive and reduce natural enemies of pests. Secondary pests usually kept in check by these enemies often rebound quickly after treatments, requiring more spraying.

IPM Response: Scientists sponsored 24 workshops across the state, and over a two-year period trained one-fourth of the state's commerical pecan producers in IPM methods. Participants were taught to use computer prediction models and take samplings to estimate the populations of pests and their natural enemies. They also learned which pesticides are least harmful to pest enemies.

A follow-up survey showed that 63 percent of the participants adopted IPM practices. They used insecticides only when pest populations exceeded economic threshold levels. As a result, participants cut pesticide use by 27 percent and boosted pecan yields by 80 pounds per acre. Profit increases to producers ranged from $37 per acre for rainwatered pecans to $302 per acre for irrigated nuts.

IPM turns back citrus blackfly in Corpus Christi

Problem: Citrus blackfly has been a serious pest of backyard citrus and related plants in Corpus Christi. Undersides of leaves may be covered with blackfly eggs and young. Leaves turn black from a sooty mold growing on honeydew, a sticky substance left by adult blackflies. Fruit yields can plunge by 50 percent. Chemical control is difficult and expensive.

IPM Response: An IPM team of scientists with the help of Master Gardener volunteers from Corpus Christi tackled the problem. They released two species of tiny parasitic wasps in 24 backyards throughout the city. The wasps attacked and deposited eggs inside the blackflies and their young. The baby wasps hatched and killed their hosts in the process of consuming them.

Blackfly populations have dropped tremendously, and yields of backyard citrus trees have returned to normal. Recent IPM blackfly samples showed 90 percent had parasites and that biological control was keeping blackflies under control.

IPM protects children in Texas public schools

Problem: The Texas Legislature in 1995 began requiring school districts to implement IPM methods to reduce the chance of pesticide misuse around school children.

School districts were required to develop an IPM plan, name an IPM coordinator, and adopt IPM practices for controlling pests. School districts had to quickly "go to school" on these new requirements.

IPM Response: The Texas Agricultural Extension Service took the lead in preparing school administrators and staff for the adoption of IPM. Up to 400 school districts and 12 regional service centers of the Texas Education Agency were downlink sites for two satellite video training conferences that introduced principles and practices of IPM for school environments. A classroom certification program followed for school IPM coordinators. Trainees totaled 329, representing 130 school districts.

Texas is quickly gaining recognition as a national leader in the development of IPM programs and low-impact methods for schools. The Extension publication, B-6015: Pest Control in Texas Schools: Adopting Integrated Pest Management, is being used as a model for IPM in schools programs by several states, including Florida, Indiana and Tennessee.

An IPM in schools video series, now being completed, will be the first video training materials developed specifically to meet the pest control training needs of school maintenance departments. Ultimately all school children will benefit from the safer and healthier study environments afforded by IPM.

IPM has wider impacts in Williamson County

Problem: Texas IPM programs are usually measured in terms of the producers they directly affect. But producers also share their IPM knowledge with their neighbors. As a result, IPM practices and impacts tend to be more widespread than directly measured.

IPM Response: In 1994, the Williamson County IPM unit tried to gauge IPM's spillover effects. The unit helped producers make IPM decisions on 21 percent of the county's cotton acreage. But all the county's 500 cotton farmers were surveyed to learn the impact of IPM programs on their operations.

Thirty-four percent of the surveys were returned from producers who were served directly by the IPM unit. Sixty-six percent came back from non-participants. According to the survey, IPM increased income of the combined group by an average of $15 to $20 per acre, adding almost $1 million to producers' pocketbooks in the county and having an economic impact to the area of about $3 million. Sixty-four percent said IPM decreased their production costs. Fifty-seven percent said their yields increased thanks to IPM.

Northeast Texas, Panhandle counties cut operating costs with IPM

Problem: Cotton farmers around the state are looking for ways to avoid a profits squeeze. Increasingly, they must find ways to keep operating costs down without hurting yields.

IPM Response: Producers in two regions found that adopting IPM methods helped them cut costs and even increase yields. Forty-seven producers growing 12,500 acres of cotton in Ellis and Navarro counties in Northeast Texas signed up for the Extension Service's s IPM program in 1994. A subsequent survey found that 86 percent of the cotton farmers using IPM reduced pesticides by one-third. Some 78 percent boosted yields by one-fourth, and nearly all increased net profits by $21 per acre.

Just as importantly, IPM's program has successfully influenced the management of another 30,000 acres of cotton in the two counties, as IPM producers shared these new methods with their neighbors.

In a similar case, cotton and corn producers in the Panhandle counties of Parmer and Bailey enrolled almost 5,000 acres in the Texas IPM program in 1994. Twenty-six producers surveyed after the growing season reported that they had cut down on pesticides and increased profits.

Three producers in four said they used pesticides only when economically necessary to protect a crop. Half the farmers raised net profits by $11 per acre using IPM. Seventy-one percent of the producers reduced pesticide use by one-fifth while maintaining or increasing yields.

IPM works indoors, too, at Dallas area malls

Problem: Trees growing indoors are not immune from pest problems. Even worse, indoor pests often have no natural enemies present to keep their populations down. Mealybugs, scale-like insects, can be a major problem for such popular indoor plants as ficus trees. Since this insect is covered with a whitish, waxy fluff that protects it from most chemicals, mealybugs are also hard to control with insecticides.

IPM response: IPM scientists found a way to get rid of such pests as mites, thrips and mealybugs - without using pesticides. They introduced natural enemies to establish a similar natural balance in a human-built environment - the indoor shopping mall. At a mall in Sherman, IPM scientists released 200 parasitic wasps to control mealybugs on 49 ficus trees. Within two months, the mealybugs were reduced significantly, and three months later, the tiny wasps - each smaller than the head of a pin - had spread to all five atrium areas in the mall and had mealybugs under control.

Releases of other natural pest enemies occurred at other Dallas-area malls. Green lacewings, another pest predator, were released at the city's World Trade Center. The use of natural pest enemies helps restore the balance of nature to indoor plants and trees and also prevents the need for chemical control in places where people are constantly present.

Facts about the Texas IPM Program

Author: Thomas W. Fuchs, Professor and Extension IPM Coordinator
Editors: Dave Mayes, Steve Byrns and Penny Banks, Agricultural Communications
Designer: Blanca Jackson, Agricultural Communications
Photos: Texas Department of Agriculture; Texas Department of Transportation; Mike Rose, Ray Frisbie, Bill Ree,
J.W. Stewart, Mike Merchant, all of the Texas A&M University System; and Cindy Wise, Pecan South magazine.