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- The mission of the Fruit and Vegetable Insect Research Unit located in Wapato,
Washington is to seek new and more effective means to control insect pests of
deciduous tree fruit and potato crops. The MU conducts research under two
National Programs which are Code 304 Crop Protection and Quarantine, and Code
308 Methyl Bromide Alternatives. Emphases include development of biological
control and bio-intensive methods for insect management and the expansion of
fundamental knowledge of the biology of the major pests. The program seeks
novel approaches and techniques for integrated pest management systems that
will reduce pesticide use. These approaches include the application of
biotechnology and other molecular methods, pathogens, parasites, predators, and
semiochemicals of pest insects. Pests of primary concern are codling moth, pear
psylla, apple maggot and leafrollers on apple and pear, cherry fruit fly on
cherries, and green peach aphid and wireworms on potato. These objectives
include developing quarantine treatments to eliminate pests in fruits for
export, with current emphasis on codling moth in apple and cherry, lesser apple
worm and Oriental fruit moth in apple, and arthropods on the surfaces of apple
and pear. As part of the IR-4 minor use program, studies continue to determine
efficacy of insecticides and to quantify pesticide residues on crops.
Website: "http://www.ars.usda.gov/main/site_main.htm?modecode=53-52-00-00"
[Summary provided by the USDA.]
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