Sep 16, 2022

WSU to present pear IPM workshop

Washington State University is presenting a Pear Integrated Pest Management Workshop.

The IPM workshop is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. (Pacific) Dec. 14 at the Confluence Technology Center in Wenatchee, Washington, with an option to join via web conference.

Designed for pear orchardists, field staff, consultants and scouts, the workshop is presented by WSU Extension and its Pear IPM team.

The event includes:

• Lectures, hands-on activities and in-depth discussion;
• Psylla and natural enemy identification and updated thresholds; and
• Ways to increase the success of selective bio-based IPM programs using phenology models, honeydew washing and thresholds.

Participants are eligible for three pesticide update credits, with Washington State Department of Agriculture and Oregon Department of Agriculture approval.

Registration, which is required, will be available in October. For more information, visit treefruit.wsu.edu/event/pear-ipm-intensive/

Speakers scheduled for the IPM workshop are:

• Louis Nottingham, whose lab works to improve insect and mite pest management practices in commercial tree fruit orchards.
• Robert Orpet, a pear entomologist at the WSU Tree Fruit Research & Extension Center since 2019.
• Tianna DuPont, a WSU tree fruit Extension specialist focused on helping growers with solutions for tree fruit pests and pathogens.
• Rebecca Schmidt-Jeffris, a research entomologist the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service, focusing on biological control of arthropod pests.
• Dowen Jocson, a doctoral degree candidate in the WSU entomology program at WSU, studying the use of acoustics for mate disruption in a pear pest, Cacopsylla pyricola.