Fruit loss to birds is a long-standing and costly problem for many producers. We conducted a survey of Honeycrisp apple, blueberry, cherry, and wine grape growers in California, Michigan, New York, Oregon, and Washington to estimate costs of bird damage and benefits of bird damage management. We also assessed grower perceptions of impacts on profits and effectiveness of bird management techniqu...

The introduction of new apple cultivars into a worldwide full market can only be successful if all parties of the entire production-market chain cooperate closely together according to a mutually accepted strategic plan. In 2001 such a strategy was developed by Inova Fruit BV in close cooperation with Applied Plant Research (WUR-PPO) of Wageningen University and Research Centre, fruit extension...

Halyomorpha halys (Stål) is an invasive pest that attacks numerous crops. For growers to make informed management decisions against H. halys, an effective monitoring tool must be in place. We evaluated various trap designs baited with the two-component aggregation pheromone of H. halys and synergist and deployed in commercial apple orchards. We compared our current experimental standard trap, a...

Live trapping and questionnaires were used to evaluate amount, distribution, and costs of control of damage to Ontario apple trees by meadow voles (Microtus enns lvanicus) in 1981-82. In a sample of 180 orchards, 5802 (0. trees were damaged or killed by voles. Orchards with high levels of damage (> 2.5%) were smaller than the average orchard in our sample. Application of rodenticides showed no ...

Alternative ways to control caterpillar pests and reduce the use of pesticides in apple orchards are in the interest of the environment, farmers and the public. Great tits have already been shown to reduce damage under high caterpillar density when breeding in nest boxes in an experimental apple orchard. We tested whether this reduction also occurs under practical conditions of Integrated Pest ...

Sixteen years of archived tufted apple bud moth, Platynota idaeusalis (Walker), trap capture data were compared with archived fruit injury data collected at the Penn State University Fruit Research and Extension Center to define the relationship of trap capture to fruit injury. Pheromone trap capture until 15 June was the best predictor of fruit injury at harvest. Using the regression equation ...

Penicillium expansum is among the most ubiquitous fungi disseminated worldwide, that could threaten the fruit sector by secreting patulin, a toxic secondary metabolite. Nevertheless, we lack sufficient data regarding the growth and the toxigenesis conditions of this species. This work enables a clear differentiation between the favorable conditions to the P. expansum growth and those promising ...

The authors analyse the construction of a seed fruit market. The conventional market had led to the `anonymousness' of the fruit and to disconnected temporalities. The process needs new types of coordination and components within the common information channels and actors' network. It also needs the construction of a new contract between producers and consumers, that the conventional market is ...

We assessed the efficacy of free-ranging dogs, confined by buried fences and electronic collars, for reducing deer damage to apple trees in three commercial apple orchards in Oswego County, New York State. During 1995 and 1996, we monitored paired dog-protected and control plots in each orchard. Within dog-protected areas, the percentage of damaged buds was lower, and fruit yield was higher in ...