Fraser Valley Case Study

Introduction The Fraser Valley contains the eastern part of the Lower Mainland of British Columbia (BC) and extends from Abbotsford and Mission to Hope. It has a mild climate with warm summers and mild winters, which is prior to produce apple crop (Climate Action Initiative, 2015; A Guide to BC’s Agriculture Resources, 2014). Apples are one of the most valuable edible horticulture crops in BC. BC produces 21% of apple in Canada (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 2013). About 2% of BC apples are grown in the Fraser Valley (A Guide to BC’s Agriculture Resources, 2014). Pests are one of the most serious problem in apple orchards in the Fraser Valley. To control the pests, Integrated Pest Management (IPM) has been promoted today. It is a systematic management process, aiming to mitigate pests economically, effectively, and environmentally by using all available control techniques (BC Ministry of Agruculture, n.d.a). The four building blocks include: Biological/Ecological Knowledge, Arsenal Development, Monitoring/Forecasting, and Pest Management Strategies. The first building block “Biological/Ecological Knowledge” emphasizes the significance of knowing the species, the ecosystem and their interaction. It requires us to identify the most destructive insect pests/diseases/weeds, their life cycles, and natural enemies. It is also vital to know about the phenological stages of the crop and where the pests could be suppressed. Objective This paper aims to apply the first building block of IPM to my chosen apple crop in the Fraser Valley. According to the BC Ministry of Agriculture and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, I compiled Table 1, which is a list of major pests (insects, disease, and weed) of apple that may be often encountered by farmers in the Fraser Valley. The list starts with the most probable one that requires management action. In the paper, I will indicate the life cycles and the damages of apple maggot (insect), apple scab (disease), and annual broadleaf weeds (weed) and where could control methods implemented. In addition, I will also list the potential natural enemies …show more content…
2017). It is not yet established in the Okanagan Valley where produces 98% of BC apples (BC Ministry of Agriculture, 2016b; A Guide to BC’s Agriculture Resources, 2014). There is an urgent need to encourage all citizens to cooperate in order to stop the spread of the pest from Fraser Valley (BC Ministry of Agriculture, 2016b).
After females insert their eggs (Fig 3), apple is damaged by tunnelling of larvae through the flesh of fruit (Fig 4, 5). As the growth of larvae, the tunnels will become larger inside the fruit, which would eventually drop prematurely or mushy. Rotted fruit will appear during storage even with a slight infestation (BC Ministry of Agriculture, 2017). This pest would cause up to 100% yield loss (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, …show more content…
The primary infection often occurs on new leaves in the spring from the overwintered apple scab in infected leaves on the orchard (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 2013). The typical peak season of primary scab is from mid spring to mid summer (BC Ministry of Agriculture, 2016a). Then, lesions develop on the leaves and release asexual spores (conidia) that causes the secondary infections (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 2013). In the second stage, apple scab will remain active and spread largely (BC Ministry of Agriculture, 2016a). It is tough to suppress apple scab during the spring with high precipitation (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 2013). Therefore, control methods could be applied when the apple scab overwinters in the fallen