Survey of IPM Practice Adoption in New York State Greenhouses

Abstract

A survey of New York greenhouses was run to evaluate the level of adoption of IPM practices and to compare the results with a baseline survey completed in 2000. Questions covered important crops and pests, cultural practices related to IPM, scouting, disease/weed/insect management, and where respondents receive their IPM information. Three hundred and ninety four surveys were completed; a 44% response rate. Most respondents use at least some preseason sanitation methods. Analysis of pH and nutrient levels in water, growing media, or foliage is not a common practice. Also, improvement could be made in calibration of sprayers. Scouting is widely accepted as an IPM practice and most growers use some additional elements of IPM in their pest management. Cornell Cooperative Extension is the most common source of information cited. Overall response rates were similar to those in 2000, although the adoption of scouting and use of scouting information has increased by 30 percentage points.