Disease and Arthropod Evaluation of Five Apple Cultivars Under Organic Management in Vermont, Usa

Comparative Programs for Arthropod, Disease and Weed Management in New York Organic Apples

“…Peck et al [ 2 ] noted the importance of continually having to adapt and modify their insect pest control strategies. Our overall levels of clean fruit during this study (50.5–62.6% in the Advanced plots) were comparable to those found by Berkett et al [ 4 ] over three years (35.3–68.3%), and more uniform than those seen by Peck et al [ 2 ] over four years (25–97%).…”

“…Peck et al [ 2 ], who implemented a similar insect management program, had comparable variability over a three-year period with regard to internal Lepidoptera and tarnished plant bug damage. Similarly, Berkett et al [ 4 ] found distinctly different levels of damage in different years from most pests, including tarnished plant bug, leafrollers, plum curculio and internal-feeding Lepidoptera. Peck et al [ 2 ] noted the importance of continually having to adapt and modify their insect pest control strategies.…”

“…There have been a few studies evaluating disease management in organic plantings of apples [ 2 , 4 ]. While these studies were principally systems evaluations of organic fruit production in the eastern US, they did involve comprehensive disease management evaluations.…”

“…In the present study, sooty blotch/fly speck was found to be an endemic problem and, when left untreated, rendered nearly 70–80% of the fruit unmarketable. The studies by Berkett et al [ 4 ] and Peck et al [ 2 ] also reported development of fly speck and sooty blotch at incidences ranging from 0% to 10% in organic plantings, which were managed with applications of lime sulfur. Although we evaluated different varieties, we did achieve similar levels of control with sulfur in the Minimal Organic program and a low rate of a copper soap plus a Bacillus -based biological control agent in the Advanced Organic program.…”

“…However, in New York, the second largest apple producing state in the country, just over 50 ha were under organic management [ 1 ]. The reasons for the disparity in organic production between east and west are well documented [ 2 , 3 , 4 ] and include environmental (e.g., humidity and precipitation) and biological factors. In particular, eastern apple growers contend with more than 50 direct and indirect arthropod pests, as well as more than 20 plant diseases without the aid of effective pest management tactics.…”