Pest management SIR rates remain unchanged


Tough timesmean smaller budget, but moth control results are mostly positive.


By Judie Steeves T


here will be no increase in rates charged growers or regional districts for the Sterile Insect Release program again this year. That will actually mean a decrease in the program’s budget, noted SIR general manager Cara Nelson, who said the board is aware of the difficult economic times the industry is going through right now.


Overall, however, the program is still keeping codling moth populations lower than the trigger point to apply chemical sprays, with 92 per cent of the acreage in Zones 2 and 3 (the Central and North Okanagan) under control, she commented.


This will be the third year of the pilot project using mating disruption in those zones while continuing to use Sterile Insect Technology in the south (Zone 1).


Some orchardists are not willing to pay to spray when necessary to control the pest, while others have difficulty in timing their sprays, and those are the properties on which program staff are concentrating their efforts, in order to achieve control throughout the Okanagan.


Nelson said the experiment using mating disruption in place of SIT in the two zones appears to be showing positive results. It’s all about achieving the program’s mandate in the most effective way with the least cost, she said.


“Lots of other regions would love to have what we have now. There are many benefits to an area-wide program. Many export markets demand pest-free fruit,” she noted. In January, program staff hosted representatives from the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Insect Pest Control section from Vienna, Austria, the leading institution in the promotion of sterile insect technology, to support the board and to support


16 British Columbia FRUIT GROWER • Spring 2013


collaborative efforts to promote SIT in other parts of the world. Nelson says they made


a presentation at the 87th annual Western Orchard Pest and Disease Management Conference in Portland, Oregon in January on the program’s 20-year


success at controlling the alien codling moth in Okanagan pomme fruit orchards and reducing the chemicals formerly used to control its damage to almost nil throughout the valley. Presenters from around the world were in attendance at the conference, theme of which was climate change and impact on pest control. Marc Vreysen, head of the Insect Pest Control Laboratory of the joint FAO/IAEA division in Vienna, made a presentation on area-wide Integrated Pest Management and advancements in Sterile Insect Technology. He later


came to the Okanagan to see the local SIR program in action. Nelson said there is


potential for the program to benefit from selling implementation experience and


marketing codling moth SIT production not currently being used. In


other words, it’s possible the program may be able to bring in outside revenue.


“There is also interest within Canada and the US for implementation of SIT and a desire to learn from our experiences. The world is noticing, now Canada is too, and we are working to make this interest benefit the industry.


“With regulations on environment, food safety and changes in climate and pest complexes, innovation will be front and foremost. Perhaps SIR’s time has come,” commented Nelson.


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