Reducing Peach Production Insecticide Use, Residues, and Associated Risks to Farm Workers, Infants, and Children - Final Report

Disclaimer

This report was prepared by an EPA assistance agreement recipient and represents only the views of the author rather than EPA.

Investigators

Dr. Peter Shearer - 1
Dr. George C. Hamilton - 1
Dr. Roy Meyer - 2

Institutions

Department of Entomology, Rutgers – The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ
Pesticide Control Program, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Trenton, NJ

Objectives

Demonstrate the Reduced Risk Peach Arthropod Management Program on commercial peach farms and at the Rutgers Agricultural Research & Extension Center using side-by-side comparisons with commercial pest management programs;
Determine reductions in insecticide use and food residues for the Reduced Risk Program when compared with conventional programs;
Encourage the adoption of the Reduced Risk Program by New Jersey peach growers.

Executive Summary

In response to the possible loss of organophosphate insecticides needed to control key peach pests, a reduced risk pest management system utilizing ground cover management to control tarnished plant bug and mating disruption to control Oriental fruit moth has been developed and implemented in New Jersey peach orchards. The program is currently bein implemented by 10 peach growers on 100 acres. Use of this program has also resulted in a 50% drop in organophosphate and carbamate insecticide use and should reduce the exposure risks from pesticide residues to growers, applicators, field laborers and consumers. The latter impact, however, has not been documented. The objective of this study was to compare the pesticide residues found in conventionally managed peach orchards to those found in orchards using the reduced risk pest management program during the 2001 and 2002 growing seasons. Results each year indicate that, while the residues found from both systems were well below established tolerances, the residue levels found in the reduced risk pest management program were lower than those found in conventionally managed orchards. Similar results were found during 2002.

Objective 1 - Demonstrate the Reduced Risk Peach Arthropod Management Program on commercial peach farms and at the Rutgers Agricultural Research & Extension Center using side-by-side comparisons with commercial pest management programs.

This study was carried out over a two year period and is reported on in the Journal of Economic Entomology. (Copy can be provided upon request.)

Atanassov, A., P.W. Shearer, G. Hamilton, and D. Polk. 2002. Development and Implementation of a Reduced Risk Peach Arthropod Management Program in New Jersey. J. Econ. Entomol. 95(4): 803-812.

Objective 2 - Determine reductions in insecticide use and food residues for the Reduced Risk Program when compared with conventional programs.

Materials and Methods

The study was carried out on 6 commercial New Jersey peach orchards in 2001; 9 in commercial peach orchards in 2002.
The orchards used were selected to represent early-, mid- and late-season varieties.
At each site, 8 acres of peaches were divided into half; each half was designated as either conventional or reduced risk.
Reduced Risk blocks employed mating disruption to control Oriental fruit moth, Grapholita molesta (Busck) and sod drive rows to control tarnished plant bug, Lygus lineolaris (Palisot de Beauvois).
Conventional and reduced risk blocks, when necessary, received standard insecticide treatments according to established pest thresholds and pesticide recommendations published by Rutgers Cooperative Extension
At harvest, a minimum of 10 lbs of peaches per site were taken from each orchard and divided into to groups: pre- and post-packing line fruit.
Post-packing line fruit were first hydrocooled and then run through a commercial packing line.
The fruit from each group were then sent to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection laboratory for later analysis.
Individual whole peach samples from each block were homogenized, extracted using acetonitrile, filtered and the filtrate analyzed using a solid phase extraction technique.
Final samples were split for analysis using both GC/MS and HPLC techniques.

Results

Two insecticides (carbaryl and phosmet) and two fungicides (captan and propriconazole) were detected 2001 (Table 1).
For both phosmet and propriconazole, the residues found were higher in the pre-packing line samples in 2001.
Residue levels were generally lower for the reduced risk program when compared to the conventional program 2001.
Four insecticides (diazinon, esfenvalerate, methomyl and phosmet) and two fungicides (captan and propriconazole) were detected in 2002 (Table 2).
Each year, all of the materials detected were below established EPA tolerance levels.
Each year, the residues found in the reduced risk program were lower than those found in the conventionally managed orchard

Conclusions

Lower residues in the reduced risk program reflect that growers used over 50% less insecticide in reduced risk blocks compared to conventional blocks during both 2001 and 2002.
Growers used slightly higher amounts of esfenvalerate and diazinon during 2002 compared to 2001.
While the most used material in terms of both lbs applied and number of applications, Phosmet use was reduced in the reduced risk program in 2001 and 2002.
The reduced residue levels found in the reduced risk program present less risks to pesticide applicators, field workers and the consumer.

Objective 3 - Encourage the adoption of the Reduced Risk Program by New Jersey peach growers

Growers were encouraged to adopt the reduced risk program through the use of on site demonstrations at grower farms and educational meetings at the Rutgers Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Bridgeton, NJ. Currently, there are approximately 60-70 commercial peach orchards comprising about 7,000 acres in southern NJ. To date, approximately 10 growers have adopted this program on about 100 acres of peaches in the southern part of the state. Costs and risks of other insect problems have limited adoption. Reduced risk peach arthropod management programs cost about 2 - 2.5 times more than conventional programs ($240 vs. $90 for RR versus conventional costs, respectively). The threat of other insect problems, such as plum curculio and peach borers, warrant early season and post harvest OP use in some orchards until replacement insecticides are registered.

Tables

Table 1. Pesticide residue levels from orchards using reduced risk and conventional practices in 2001.

Table 2. Pesticide residue levels from orchards using reduced risk and conventional practices in 2002.

Tables are not posted be are available upon request.