July 2004

Pesticide Potpourri

  • Three training sessions for fumigant applicators have been planned for August. Applicators of aluminum and magnesium phosphide fumigants will be able to receive training on the new labeling and applicator’s manuals that address changes required by EPA following completion of the risk assessment for these products. The locations are:
    • August 4th in Blakely, GA,
    • August 10th in Rainsville, AL
    • August 25th in Jacksonville, FL.

    This is a tri-state cooperative effort. Contact the Pesticide Information Office or go to http://www.safepesticideuse.com for a program flyer or agenda.

  • wpdoc12.gifFlorida is the second largest producer of watermelons in the United States but, this year, southwest Florida farmers are battling what scientists are calling a mysterious disease, which could cost growers up to $50 million this season. Dr. Pam Roberts says the unknown disease is wiping out watermelon crops across the state. Roberts, a researcher from the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, has no idea how it arrived. She and her colleagues were trying to conduct an unrelated experiment when their own crop was infected. Many Immokalee growers may be forced out of business. According to Roberts, some affected fields have lost 100 percent of their production. With few clues to go on, scientists say it's very likely this situation will get worse. Consumers can identify an infected melon by examining the rind. Healthy watermelons have a nice, white rind on the inside, but infected ones are yellow. In related events, the Pesticide Information Office will be conducting a Pest Management Strategic Plan for watermelon at the SW Florida Research and Education Center (SFREC) in Immokalee on September 15, 2004 from 10 AM to 4 PM. Please contact Mark Mossler at 352 392-4721 if you are interested in attending. (Jessica Ritter via Agnet, 6/29/04).
  • wpdoc13.gifThe Governor of Minnesota signed legislation in late May that will ban the use of residential fertilizer containing phosphorous on established lawns of that state. The legislation will take effect at the beginning of 2005. New lawns, lawns deficient of phosphorous, and golf courses will be exempted from the ban. It also will not apply to agricultural interests. (Chemical Regulation Reporter, 6/7/04).
  • wpdoc14.gifA state appellate court reversed a $29.5 million jury award to two Costa Rican growers who had alleged their palm trees and ornamental plants were damaged by benomyl (Benlate®). The court cited “adverse inference instructions” given to the jury by the trial judge. Dupont’s lawyer stated that this decision would impact eight other Benlate® cases still in Miami trial court. (Chemical Regulation Reporter, 6/7/04).
  • wpdoc15.gifIn a recent journal article, researchers at Virginia Tech University compared integrated pest management strategy versus conventional strategy for control of German cockroach in public housing. Conventional strategy was typified by monthly baseboard and crack treatment. The IPM strategy involved initial vacuuming of apartments followed by monthly or quarterly applications of baits and insect growth regulator devices. Populations of cockroach were monitored by sticky trap. In the first month (clean-out), the average IPM cost per unit was $14.60 while convention treatment averaged $2.75. At the end of a year, the average cost for IPM and conventional units were $4.06 and $1.50 per unit, respectively. However, cockroach populations in the conventional system remained steady of the first five months, and then had a three-fold increase during the summer. Populations in the IPM system were significantly reduced from an average of 24.7 cockroaches per unit before treatment to 3.9 cockroaches per unit in month four. The suppressed cockroach populations (<5/unit) in the IPM treatment remained constant for the remaining eight months of the test. (The CPCO Advantage, July 2004).
  • The Competitive Enterprise Institute has suggested that congress should become more involved in approving regulations proposed by federal agencies because of the cumulative cost of regulation. The federal government issued 4,148 new rules in 2003, which were reported in 71,269 pages of the Federal Register. The total cost of federal regulations is estimated to be in excess of $800 billion. EPA is one of the most rule-producing entities, along with the USDA, Treasury, Transportation, and Homeland Security Departments. These five groups account for nearly half of the rules under consideration. The EPA also spends more than any agency to enforce regulations. In 2004, the EPA is expected to spend $4.8 billion on this activity, which accounts for 17 percent of $28.8 billion expected to be spent by all regulatory agencies combined. (Pesticide & Toxic Chemical News, 7/5/04).
  • Progressives scored a “victory” in Vermont in April when Republican Governor James Douglas signed a bill requiring labeling and registration of all genetically modified seeds sold in the state. This makes Vermont the first state to legislate regulation of genetically modified organisms. Many farmers and activists in Vermont hope the bill, considered a small but important first step, will pave the way toward more stringent regulation of GMOs in the United States. "The biotech industry has a stranglehold on legislatures around the country, and I think it's remarkable that we got this done," said State Representative David Zuckerman. A member of the state's small but influential Progressive Party Caucus, Zuckerman has spent more than six years promoting this legislation. (http://www.ellinghuysen.com, 6/18/04).
  • wpdoc16.gifPeanut farmers now have a biological pesticide for protecting their crops from fungi that produce aflatoxin. A protectant developed by USDA ARS scientists recently received EPA Section 3 registration. Circle One Global, Inc. of Cuthbert, GA, the sole licensee of the ARS treatment, will immediately begin producing the biopesticide, called Afla-Guard®, for use in 2004. The ideal time to inoculate peanut fields is late June or early July. The scientists made the biological treatment from spores of a nontoxigenic strain of Aspergillus flavus that is applied to barley kernels. The kernels are then applied to the soil beneath the plant canopy, where the fungus colonizes the peanut and establishes itself to compete against toxigenic strains of A. flavus that are naturally present. Afla-Guard®, in field trials, reduced aflatoxin typically 70 to 90 percent after the first application. Repeated applications in subsequent years reduced aflatoxin by as much as 98 percent. Circle One has agreements with peanut shelling companies to provide Afla-Guard® to growers in Alabama and Georgia for treatment of 7,000 to 8,000 acres this year. More will be available in future years. Until now, there was no method available for farmers to reduce the potential for this toxin production. Aflatoxin outbreaks occur when certain crops, like peanut and corn, are stressed by drought conditions. (ARS News, 6/22/04).
  • wpdoc17.gifThe Charleston Belle pepper developed by the USDA ARS continues to impress researchers with its ability to resist major root-knot nematodes afflicting the southern United States. A recent ARS study not only confirmed the effectiveness and heat tolerance of Charleston Belle's resistance gene, but also found that the gene benefits nematode-susceptible vegetables rotated with the pepper. In the study, Charleston Belle dramatically outperformed its susceptible parent, Keystone Resistant Giant, in SC field tests. Not only did it repel nematodes, it also protected subsequently planted (double-cropped) susceptible squash and cucumber crops. The research showed that Charleston Belle exhibited minimal root galling from nematode attack. Charleston Belle peppers get their resistance from the N gene, which was obtained from a resistant pimiento pepper and placed into Keystone cultivars to create Charleston Belle. The gene controls resistance to three major root-knot nematode species: southern (Meloidogyne incognita), peanut (M. arenaria) and javanese (M. javanica). The pepper's resistance may aid growers who, next year, must fight root-knot nematodes without use of methyl bromide. Other independent studies have shown that nematode-resistant vegetable plants - notably tomatoes - can help shield double-cropped vegetables from nematode attack. In the ARS study, cucumber yields were 87 percent heavier and numbers of fruit were 85 percent higher when grown after Charleston Belle than after Keystone. Squash yields were 55 percent heavier, with 50 percent more fruit. (ARS News, 6/23/04).
  • wpdoc18.gifA decline in atmospheric carbon dioxide more than 300 million years ago may have paved the way for the evolution of plants with leaves. Although the genetic prerequisites for leaf development evolved approximately 400 million years ago, leaves did not become widespread for another 20 million years. A possible explanation for this mysterious delay is that exceptionally high levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide prevented the earlier appearance of leaves. Plants absorb carbon dioxide, which is necessary for photosynthesis, through pores called stomata. Water vapor also escapes from the stomata, producing a cooling effect. Carbon dioxide levels were high when land plants first evolved, and therefore the plants needed relatively few stomata. This lack of pores, however, limited cooling and large, wide leaves, which absorb large amounts of solar energy, would have been prone to lethal overheating. As atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide declined, the number of stomata increased, producing a cooling effect that allowed larger leaves to appear. To test this theory, the researchers examined 300 fossil plants representing a variety of species. Their analysis showed that average leaf size increased 25-fold between 340 and 380 million years ago, at the same time that carbon dioxide concentration was dropping. For two of the species, the researchers determined that this abrupt increase in leaf size coincided with an eight-fold increase in stomatal density. (PNAS Online Early Edition, 7/5/04).
  • wpdoc19.gifKeith Kisling has traveled the world to promote United States wheat. But when it comes to promoting his second crop, he only has to venture down the road a few miles to the store and grill. "Danny, tell Amber the corn's ready." he said Thursday, pausing at the lunch counter to greet a friend. By nightfall, word will have spread around the county and into Kansas that the Kisling corn giveaway is under way. By the end of the week, the 100,000 ears of sweet corn growing in Kisling's two-acre field will have been picked. Much of it is B.t. sweet corn, a hybrid that has been genetically engineered to produce its own insecticide, which can control earworms. Kisling was quoted as saying, "Nobody's turned down B.t. corn around here...everybody likes sweet corn. This wouldn't be nearly as much fun if we charged them." (NewsOK, 7/4/04).
  • wpdoc20.gifJuergen Hambrecht, chairman of German chemicals giant BASF, was cited as saying in a newspaper interview published on July 12th that the company is mulling moving its genetic research activities to the United States in view of European skepticism towards genetically modified foods, adding, "If you can't push through innovations into the market, the next step is to relocate research and development. You have to put R&D where innovations can be carried out. We have to make money and not only spend it. There is no innovation without risk. No risk means no growth, no future, no fun." (Agence France Presse, 7/12/04).

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