PEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES IN STORED PEANUTS IN THE SOUTHWESTERN UNITED STATES

摘要

Surveys were conducted in 1998 and 2003 to assess pest problems, management practices, and pesticide use in the storage of the southwestern peanut crop, which accounts for 26% of total U.S. production. Shelters and warehouse operators employed severalintegrated pest management (IPM) methods for insect pests in stored peanuts. IPM strategies of prevention, avoidance, monitoring, and suppression included several physical and chemical tactics. All firms followed written Good Management Practices and site clean up procedures prior to storage. Prophylactic general surface and crack and crevice insecticides were applied by 83% of the firms. Scouting was widely practiced, with 76% of the programs using grain probe pit fall traps. Extensive monitoring andscouting reduced the use of automatic scheduling of insecticide treatments. All firms applied insecticides in the spring as seasonal temperatures increased and insects became more prevalent in the remaining unshelled commodity. Changes in insecticide usewere noted between 1998 and 2003 in pre-storage, top dress, head space, and fumigation treatments. In the southwestern U.S., 18% of the total in-shell peanut crop was treated in storage. Vertebrate pests included birds and rodents but did not pose significant problems for control in peanut warehouses.