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too high.


Judd, who is a researcher at the Pacific Agri-food Research Centre in Summerland, said that this year the focus will be on preventing the infestation from moving further north, since beyond Winfield few moths were detected last year. In areas already infested, it’s felt it’s too big an undertaking to try and stop it now, but once the spread is stopped, the focus will turn to areas that are already infested.


Judd is also working with SemiosBio, a B.C. farming


technology company, to use an aerosol formulation of pheromones for control of the moth, using its wireless sensor network and an automatic trapping network monitored by cameras instead of requiring hundreds of traps in the field that must be checked by people. “For an insect like this, where we need a surveillance system, this could be ideal,”comments Judd, so they are currently evaluating it.


However, he believes it is better suited to property of 10 acres or larger. On smaller acreages, he says they could hand-spray around the edges of the orchard, which is where the sensor network tends to break down. “Any mating disruption system though, is better used on an area-wide basis,”he adds.


Chemical sprays must be used very intensively, using hand labour, to be effective, so they’re very expensive, he notes.


The BCFGA has hired entomologist Tamara Richardson of Cornucopia Crop Consulting to work this season with growers one-on-one and in small groups to help them try and prevent the spread of ACM. She will be working closely with Susanna Acheampong of the B.C. Ministry of Agriculture, Chelsea Eby of SemiosBio, Judd, Tony DiMaria of BCTF and Glen Lucas of the BCFGA. Using Judd’s research into finding a lure to attract the females, orchardists will be able to help reduce populations and prevent them from laying eggs. It’s a low input, organic approach, he notes. However, in areas of heavy infestation, growers may need to use a spray program to reduce the populations first, then move to softer methods of control.


He’s also working on some trials with a sprayable pheromone which could have promise.


“We’re learning as we go and what we 8 British Columbia FRUIT GROWER • Summer 2015


Because the ACM’s Apple Clearwing Moth larvae


learn we can apply to the areas that are already infested,”comments Judd. Normally, adults emerge in June through mid-August, but they could be a bit early this year.


“It’s a serious pest because it attacks the wood of the tree. It’s devastating too because there are no native predators. It takes time for the tree to succumb, but in the long term, it’s a serious pest. “And, it’s a replant problem because those high-density plantings are expensive, and this pest could damage those new trees,” he adds.


presence is hidden — unlike pests that chew on leaves or burrow into fruit — it can spread and build up its numbers before growers are even aware it’s there. In the first two years after replant, Judd feels the trees are not as susceptible, but at three years, if there’s potential of the pest being drawn from surrounding orchards, growers should be trapping with pheromones to determine when it arrives. In fact, Judd believes there


should be an area-wide trapping program so the spread of the infestation can be monitored, and growers can be alerted when it’s in their area. He says it’s very important that neighbourhood orchardists work together to help prevent its spread. “We all have to work together to keep numbers down,” he adds.


For details about the pest and steps that can be taken to control it, go to the agriculture ministry website at: www.agf.gov.bc.ca/cropprot/tfipm/ clearwing.htm


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