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Show Millard County Progress Annual Farm Supplement, Friday, April 18, 1980 Page 4 OPTIONS FOR SEED ALFALFA SCHOOL CHILD CARE INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT (IPM) SEED ALFALFA PROGRAM By Michi Okuda The speakers from USU and Waterman-Loomi- s The Seed Alfalfa School, held on April 3, 1980 in Delta, was highly informative. Company presented the information given below: Dr. Jay Karren, Extension Entomologist at USU and Michi Okuda, IPM Field Supervisor located in Millard County, talked Dr. Karren discussed the first two years of the program. See Table I. about the IPM Seed Alfalfa Program in Millard County. TABLE I. IPM Seed Alfalfa Program in West Millard County, 1978 and 1979 A verage Number of Percent Justified Insecticide Applications 28 33 In 1979 a spider mite infestation resulted in an increase in insecticide and miticide applications. During the past two years unnecessary insecticide treatments have been applied. In many cases the timing of applications needs to be improved. Field scouts will sweep program Helds on a weekly basis for pest and beneficial insects y from until the end of The insect sampling August. data will be made available to the growers immediately after the fields are sampled. Michi will contact the growers when there is a potential insect pest problem and will be available to help interpret the insect population counts. She will provide relevant information on insect biology, damage, and control that can be used by the growers in their pest management decision making. The lygus bug is one of the major insect pests on seed alfalfa in Millard County. Lygus bugs have sucking mouthparts, feed on plant juices, and inject toxic saliva into the alfalfa plant. They cause (1) the buds to turn white and die (bud blasting), (2) flower fall, and (3) seed damage. When bud blasting is severe, no blossoms or seed are produced. Lygus bugs feed on immature, green alfalfa seed and cause it to become shrivelled, brown, and They do not damage mature seed. Therefore, there is no need to control them after the majority of the seed has turned brown. mid-Ma- non-viabl- e. and the cycle is repeated. There bugs, and aphids when applied It treatment. are several generationsseason as a in Utah. is a better aphicide than Furadan When hay fields are cut and is marginally safer to benefiHowever, this, adjacent to seed fields, the adult cial insects. lygus bugs will migrate from the along with other insecticides, hay fields into the seed fields. should only be applied where At this time they can increase there is an insect problem. to damaging levels overnight. Selective insecticides that are Other pest insects that will be monitored this season include safe to beneficial insects and the alfalfa weevil, pea aphid, pollinators are recommended spotted alfalfa aphid, and the over broad spectrum insectiblue alfalfa aphid. Fields will cides. When the former are also be sampled for the spider used, pest resistance is less mite. Seed samples will be analikely to develop and the benelyzed for lygus bug and alfalfa ficial insects have a better seed chalcid damage. chance to control the pest inTwo important lygus bug presects. Also, pollinator losses d can be prevented. dators, the damsel bug and bug, will be monitored in program fields. Green lady beetles, and hover flies, predators of the different aphid species, will also be sampled. In some cases these predators have controlled the pest insects and made insecticide applications unnecessary. Dr. Donald David, alfalfa weevil researcher at USU, has found that Furadan applied for alfalfa weevil control was directly correlated with spider mite infestations. Furadan is a broad spectrum insecticide that kills the beneficial insects that feed on or parasitize the spider mite and pest insects. Supracide is a better integrated control chemical. It does not work early in the The damsel bug adult is season when the alfalfa is 3 to 4 inches high, but provides good about Vi inch long and greycontrol of alfalfa weevil, lygus ish brown. pre-bloo- "The government should start recognizing the options of how it can provide greater support for the care of children under four years of age, suggests Dr. Craig Peery, assistant professor in the Family and Human Development Department at Utah State University. Parents of young children are needing and wanting to work outside the home, but the very real problem that faces them is "what do we do with our children who are not in school? "The public school system is doing a fine job of caring for five to 18 year olds, but there institutionalized arent approaches to caring for children who are under five, said Dr. Peery. SEED ALFALFA SCHOOL BREEDING ALFALFA FOR PEST AND DISEASE RESISTANCE big-eye- lace-wing- s, The lygus bug is a little less than 'A inch long and about half as wide. It is pale green to a light brown to a dark reddish brown and has a distinct light colored triangle about Vt of the distance down the back. Lygus bugs overwinter as adults under debris, litter, or dormant plant cover. They become active with warm spring weather and fly to weed host plants to feed and reproduce. When buds form in the alfalfa fields, the adults fly into the fields and lay their eggs in the alflafa plants. The nymphs hatch and feed on the alfalfa as they develop into adults. The new adults feed, lay eggs For all your Veterinary Supplies use Franklin Products availalle at rag 40 No. Main Flllmoro, Utah 743-054- 0 Ike Kawaguchi, Research Agronomist for Waterman-Loomi- s Company, discussed breeding alfalfa for pest resistance. The insects that alfalfa is being bred for resistance against include the spotted alfalfa aphid, pea aphid, blue alfalfa aphid, and the alfalfa weevil. The diseases include bacterial wilt, Phyto-phthoroot rot, Fusarium wilt, Verticillium wilt and Anthrac-nosThe latter three are caused by fungi. Alfalfa is also being bred for resistance to the stem and root knot nematodes. The trend in plant breeding is towards multiple pest resistance. Varieties are now being developed with resistance to 8 to 12 different pests. One advantage to growing pest resistant varieties is that less winterhardy varieties can be grown in colder climates. Also, seed yields for resistant varieties are higher than for those susceptible to pests. In the U.S. there are about 200 alfalfa varieties available and about 20 are released each year through the national review board. For colder climates there are 150 or more varieties to choose from. Many of these are for specific geodeveloped graphical locations. New resistant varieties are developed for high seed production. It is not economical for a plant breeding company to develop alfalfa varieties with low seed production. Resistant varieties will seed just as well, if not better than old public varieties when the proper cultural practices are used. In California some of Waterman-Loomi- s Companys varieties have produced up to 1100 pounds of seed aere with 4 to 5 honeybee ra e. coloniesacre. |