Development and Delivery of Alternative Management Strategies for Eastern US Vineyards

Abstract

Grape berry moth (GBM) Endopiza viteana is the key arthropod pest of grapes in New York,Pennsylvania, Michigan and other grape-growing regions east of the Rocky Mountains (Taschenberg 1945, Weigle and Muza 2003). Larvae feed directly on fruiting structures causing yield loss and perhaps more significantly, contamination. Prior to the late 1980s GBM in central New York and the Lake Erie grape belt of western New York and western Pennsylvania was kept in check through 3 to 5 applications of a broad-spectrum insecticide (most commonly parathion or carbaryl) (Taschenberg et al. 1964, Martinson et al. 1991). Although effective, this management program was expensive, disruptive of natural enemies, and potentially detrimental to the environment and food safety. (Indeed, in response to the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) of 1996, parathion has been banned for use on grapes, use of two other organophosphate insecticides have been restricted (guthion and phosmet), and carbaryl is currently under review.) Food safety is of particular concern since most of the grapes in New York and Pennsylvania (75%) are used for sweet juice mostly consumed by children. In recent years there has been a major increase in damage to fruit from GBM resulting in 1) loss of crop due to the grapes not being picked for fear of rejection at the processing plant, 2) loss of tonnage by direct feeding on grape berries and 3) rejection at the plant due to exceeding the damage threshold used by area processors. Due to a number of factors our current control strategies are not as effective as in the past and there is a need to develop new strategies that address changes in the regulatory environment and take into account other arthropod pests found in grapes.