June 2022 - 10

Nanocrystals eyed as peach bud 'baby blankets'
From Clemson University
The Palmetto State is home to some
of the best peaches in the southeastern
United States.
But pleasing the palate is not the
only role peaches play in South
Carolina. The peach industry also
is a major contributor to the state's
economy. To help keep the industry
growing, the Clemson University
Cooperative Extension Service Peach
Team is researching how to keep
pests at bay, as well as how using new
technologies can help protect peaches.
During the annual Ridge Peach
Producers Meeting in Edgefield, South
Carolina, Peach Team members briefed
growers on how to attack these pests.
One discussion
was what growers
can do now that
the insecticide
chlorpyrifos has
been banned
for use on food
crops. Brett
Blaauw, professor
and Extension
specialist with
the Clemson
BRETT BLAAUW
Cooperative Extension Service and
the University of Georgia Extension
Service, said changes in management
practices can help growers compensate
as a management tactic, Clemson
nematologist Churamani Khanal said
there are beneficial nematodes that are
good for the soil and bad nematodes,
including plant-parasitic nematodes
such as ring nematodes, dagger
nematodes and root-knot nematodes.
" There are a lot of nematodes in the
soil, " Khanal said. " About 10% of these
are dangerous. "
Common symptoms of nematode
The peach industry is a major contributor to the South Carolina economy.
for the loss of this tool.
" Chlorpyrifos was commonly
recommended for use as a tank mix
with horticultural oil to apply in late
winter for delayed dormant timing to
manage San Jose scale and lesser peach
tree borer, " Blaauw said. Chlorpyrifos
is an inexpensive but effective
insecticide widely used in agriculture
for more than 56 years. It is a broadspectrum
insecticide first registered
for use in 1965, killing insects by
affecting their nervous systems. The
Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) banned the use of chlorpyrifos
on food and feed crops in August 2021.
Alternative management tactics
currently available are more expensive
and potentially more difficult
to implement than chlorpyrifos.
Alternative insecticides cost
more per acre, but the application
methods should be the same as with
chlorpyrifos. In addition, using
cultural controls such as mating
disruption and entomopathogenic
nematodes (EPNs, which are beneficial
nematodes) are both more expensive
and potentially more difficult to
implement in the field. Implementing
controls such as mating disruption
requires labor to hang pheromone
dispensers in peach trees at a rate of
150 dispensers per acre.
" On the plus side, the pheromone
dispensers last all season long and help
manage both peachtree borers and
lesser peachtree borers, " Blaauw said.
Unlike chlorpyrifos, EPNs can
be applied preventatively, as well as
curatively to already damaged trees.
Managing with nematodes
For growers using nematodes
attacks include
peach tree short
life and dieback. Of
special interest is
the peach rootknot
nematode.
This pest was
found in one
upstate orchard
in 2018. Clemson
researchers are
conducting surveys
to determine how
much of this nematode exists in South
Carolina orchards.
Bacterial spot
Bacterial spot is another disease
Clemson peach researchers are studying.
This disease is caused by the bacterium
Xanthomonas arboricola pv. pruni
(Xap). It begins as twig cankers in the
spring and spreads to leaves and fruit
as the season progresses. Symptoms
CHURAMANI
KHANAL
NEMATODES ARE A
LOOMING THREAT.
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10 | FruitGrowersNews.com
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June 2022

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