Media Contacts: Steve Lyle (CDFA), 916-654-0462 , officeofpublicaffairs@cdfa.ca.gov
SACRAMENTO, August 3, 2020- The California Department of
Food and Agriculture has awarded funding for one project within its Proactive
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Solutions grant program. The project will be
completed over three years.
Project leader Dr. Brian Hogg, of USDA, and collaborators will receive funding
for “Proactive Classical Biological Control of Tuta absoluta in
California.” This project will develop a biological control program that
uniquely targets T. absoluta, a devastating pest of commercial tomato
production. T. absoluta is a threat to California agriculture and has
invaded parts of Europe, Africa and Asia, spreading to more than 60% of global
tomato production and causing severe annual economic crop losses. It is
predicted to soon arrive in California, where it could imperil the state’s $1.2
billion tomato industry.
This project will proactively identify a high-risk pest that can cause
significant damage to a high-volume crop, impact food security and disrupt
existing ecosystem service pathways in California agriculture. Further, climate
change impacts are expected to support new invasive pests with increased
temperatures, and such work will ensure we have a biological solution to
address T. absoluta.
Biological solutions are an alternative solution to the use of broach spectrum
insecticides. Broad spectrum insecticides, such as chlorpyrifos, and systemic
insecticides, such as imidacloprid, have historically been used when new
invasive pests arrive in California. Developing a biological control program
for this pest provides California growers with more options for managing an
invasion that has food security, environmental and economic impacts. Successful
biological control programs are accessible to all growers for no cost because
the biological control agents establish in growing regions. This reduces costs
to growers while supporting California’s sustainable agriculture goals.
Detailed information on this program, including the application process and
application requirements, is available on OPCA’s Proactive IPM Solutions Program webpage.
The Office of Pesticide Consultation and Analysis (OPCA), which is part of
CDFA’s Office of Environmental Farming and Innovation, received an annual
appropriation of $544,000 for this and other research as part of the 2019-2020
budget. Part of an additional $3.5 million allocated in the 2019-2020 budget to
help California’s farmers transition away from chlorpyrifos was included in
this grant cycle. OPCA’s consultative activities focus on potential pesticide
regulatory impacts and pest management alternatives that may mitigate or
prevent such impacts on production agriculture. OPCA staff are also involved in
other projects relating to pesticide use and alternatives.
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