August 2020 - 36

MANAGEMENT
" When we started almost 40
years ago, there were no pesticides
allowed on herb crops, so we were
accustomed to farming like this, "
shares Allison Kurtz of Sound
Horticulture in Washington. " In
the last five years, we now have
biopesticides and the germ tube
of the spore will find its way into
the insect and kill it from the
inside out. We can use a beneficial
insect program with growers
of cannabis and edibles, and if
we need more pest control, we
can use a biopesticide that is a
mycoinsecticide. "
MONITORING REMOTELY
With these tools, the traditional
sticky yellow card and scouting
may be up for review, similar to 10
years ago, when the concept of IPM
instead of pesticides was considered
avant-garde. COVID-19 will hasten
the adoption of technology designed
to reduce the daily interface of large
teams of people, any one of whom
could seriously imperil a growing
operation by testing positive for
the disease.
Kurtz addresses the issue of
solving problems remotely. " If one
of our growers has an AI program
that identifies pest problems, we
can do something about it. We can
look at a facility and say to the
grower, we think we see a problem
in a particular house, in a particular
bay and, on a particular table, and
we can see all this information from
our remote crop walk. Then, we have
the time to employ beneficial insects
instead of spraying pesticides. "
Four months ago, this would
have been an entirely different focus
but with the impact of COVID-19,
the new normal is changing the
face of the agricultural industry. The
pandemic has, in a sense, put the
greenhouse industry on steroids.
The long-haul transportation of
fruits, vegetables and ornamentals
is dependent on packing, loading,
driving and unloading, all of which
necessitate direct contact. Indoor
growing significantly reduces all
these components, in particular,
fields of laborers harvesting crops.
Gordon Daniel Rowe III is
responsible for Special Operations
Allison Kurtz of Sound Horticulture in Washington says growers are
able to identify and solve pest problems in the greenhouse remotely
using AI technology.
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August 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of August 2020
