pestmanagement


Field guide? There’s now an app for that...


Programformobile devices takes the place of printed version to help blueberry growers deal with pests and diseases. By Judie Steeves


T


he berry industry is moving into the next century, with a new app for growers’ smart phones or


other mobile devices that they can take into the field to help identify pests and diseases. Most growers today have access to


such devices, so a customized mobile application will meet their needs right where they need the information — in the field, explains Karina Sakalauskas, research coordinator for the B.C. Blueberry Council. It’s expected the new web-app will


be available by spring, at the BCBC website (www.bcblueberry.com) and growers will have an opportunity to try a prototype at the growers’ short course in Abbotsford during the Pacific Agriculture Show Jan. 26-28. It was designed instead of updating


the Field Guide to Identification of Pests, Diseases and other Disorders in Blueberry Fields, says Sakalauskas. It includes illustrations and photos of pests and disease impacts to help growers identify issues in the field. That guide was seriously out of date


and due for editing. In fact, it doesn’t even include the now-common Spotted Wing Drosophila. Today’s growers are more


comfortable with new technology such as computers and smart phones, so it was a natural fit to update the guide using that new technology. She explains that the aim is to


provide customized information of the biology of common pests and diseases, beneficial insects, weather-related disorders and symptoms of pesticide damage and nutritional disorders that are affecting berries. “The more of our


growers who are able to identify pests and diseases the more there will be who can tailor their management programs to proactively address each threat. “Rather than


spraying based on a schedule, or on poor understanding of the pests and diseases that are present in the field, growers will be able to target pests and diseases precisely,” she explains. That should result


JUDIE STEEVES


in better pest management, improved yields, fruit quality and profitability, at the same time as it will allow growers to reduce the amount of pesticides applied, for a net benefit to the environment, and lower costs to growers, she says. Information on the web-app will be


much easier to update as new pests threaten berries, or new controls are available, than a paper publication would be. Creation of the app is a


collaboration of the Investment


Karina Sakalauskas, research coordinator for the B.C. Blueberry Council.


Agriculture Foundation, which provided a $20,000 grant for development of the customized smart phone app; the BCBC and the Lower Mainland Horticulture Improvement Association. When growers spot something in


their field that looks wrong they will be able to take their smart phone out to where the issue is visible and compare the symptoms with photos on the app. They could also take photos of the issue on their plants


British Columbia Berry Grower • Winter 2016-17 9


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16