PIPS IPDM project update – November 2012

November 2012 | PIPS Integrated Pest and Disease Management project update

The Productivity, Irrigation, Pests and Soils (PIPS) program included an integrated pest and disease management stream designed to strengthen sustainable pest control in Australian apple and pear orchards. This November 2012 update records progress from that work and provides growers with a snapshot of research and extension activity at the time.

A central theme of the IPDM program was reducing dependence on broad-spectrum insecticides by improving biological and integrated approaches. Work on codling moth included development of tools that could complement conventional control and support more durable management programs.

The update is useful as historical context for the industry’s move toward modern IPM. It shows how research, field validation and grower extension were being linked to practical orchard decisions, with the longer-term objective of improving productivity while maintaining effective pest and disease control.

For library users, this resource is most useful as a record of the technical thinking and field evidence available at the time. Product registrations, resistance advice and regional pest pressure can change, so any present-day control decision should be checked against current labels and local recommendations while retaining the monitoring and decision-making principles described here.