Geoff Kaine (1), Denise Bewsell (1), David Williams (2), Jo Vigliaturo (2)

Preferred presentation format: Poster

Affiliation(s): (1) AgResearch Ltd, New Zealand

(2) Department of Primary Industries, Victoria

Title: Miss Denise Bewsell Position: Researcher Organisation: AgResearch Ltd, New Zealand Contact email: denise.bewsell@agresearch.co.nz Contact phone: +64 7 838 5994

Keywords: Integrated Pest Management (IPM), adoption, extension

Interviews with apple growers across Australia revealed that the key factors influencing the adoption of pest and disease management practices were:

• The climate. This dictates the types and intensities of pest and disease pressures in an orchard. For example, black spot is a particularly serious problem in Tasmanian orchards because of the relatively wet conditions experienced in that region.
• The topography of the orchard. This can create micro-climates which will have an impact on the pests and diseases present and influence the efficacy of some control options
• Orchard isolation. Geographic distance between orchards creates a natural barrier against the movement of pests and diseases. This can result in considerably lower pest pressures on some orchards compared to others in the same region
• The mix of tree crops in an area. For example in Shepparton, Victoria there is a mix of stone and pome fruit. The presence of stone fruit, which is particularly susceptible to oriental fruit moth, adds to the population of this pest in the region.
• The management options available. Selective chemicals or biological controls have not been developed for most secondary pests such as weevils.
• Market requirements. Growers supplying fresh market fruit often cannot tolerate the same level of damage, especially cosmetic damage, to fruit as growers supplying fruit for processing.
• The development of resistance to chemicals in pests.

Key learning points:

• Once growers have discovered a combination of pest and disease management options that works they will not change that combination unless forced to by circumstances (such the repeated failure to control pests due to increasing resistance).
• It is unlikely that a lack of knowledge, skills or information is preventing growers from adopting ‘advanced’ pest management approaches such as pest monitoring and mating disruption.
• The simple summation of pest and disease management practices into an index of ‘good’ pest management (or IPM) is naïve and misleading. Such indices do not necessarily reflect the attitudes of growers to the environment or chemical use.