SBIR-STTR Award

Pest management professionals in Florida are facing a severe new threat, Thrips palmi Karny, commonly known as the melon thrips. Because of its ability to defoliate plants and markedly reduce yields, broad host range, and the difficulty of chemical control, biological control systems must be found. T. palmi has continued to spread steadily after it was first discovered in the continental U.S. in 1990 by Glades Crop Care. The potential geographic range for this pest extends north well into Georgia and west to the Pacific Ocean, with infested areas already facing trade restrictions. There are currently critical gaps in the knowledge base and tools needed to control T. palmi reliably and affordable The proposed Phase I research will address some of the most immediate needs: development of field detection, identification, and monitoring methods as well as finding alternative control techniques that somehow can be exploited. Phase II research will focus on elucidating methods to manage less destructive thrips species to crowd out the destructive and pesticide resistant T. palmi, identification of other biological control agents and organisms, and how to work them into . south Florida production systems. Future efforts will also examine improved methods to gain some measure of control through use of pesticides compatible with biological control systems.Applications:A field detection and monitoring kit for thrips species, along with instructions on proper use, will be developed and marketed to crop consultants and grower associations. New pest management systems. particularly diagnostic tools and economic thresholds, will be shared through training sessions and participation in cooperative research activities. Strong demand is excepted for the field detection kit, as well as control systems and component technologies. Farmers and crop protection specialists in other states and countries face comparable difficulties in controlling T. palmi, and will constitute important markets.

Accurate identification of pest and beneficial species is an essential first step in implementing biointensive IPM cost-effectively in commercial production. The introduction of Thrips palmi Karny into Florida in 1990 has made both taxonomic identification and pest management systems more complex and costly. Our field work will focus on refining the delivery of essential new tactics and approaches, all with the goal of expanding the diversity and populations of baneficials, either directly through habitat manipulation or by reducing the need for broad-spectrum insecticides. The most promising new options include use of cover crops to provide flowering habitat for the beneficial insect Orius insidiosis, the minute pirate bug, in the winter production cycle; isolation and production of a fungicide-resistant strain of Beauveria bassiana discovered by Glades Crop Care, Inc., in 1996 that shows promise in controlling both thrips and pepper weevils; and incorporation of various new, reduced-risk biopesticides into the system at times and in ways that minimize adverse impacts on baneficials. A CD-ROM expert system that contains detailed information on thrips taxonomy, pest and beneficial organism biology, life cycles, and control options will be completed, field tested, refined and marketed.Applications:This project establishes the knowledge base supporting the first commercial biointensive IPM system marketed in south Florida as a package. Glades Crop Care, Inc., will apply the system on approximately 5,000 contracted pepper acres and sees immediate applications for clients growing cucurbits and eggplants. We will market the system to IPM practitioners outside Florida and abroad and support technical refinements and upgrades via the Internet. Field results in 1996 confirm the system's potential to lessen substantially grower reliance on conventional broad-spectrum, high-risk pesticides and will, therefore, assist Florida agriculture to remain productive and profitable as the Food Quality Protection Act is implemented.