Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 5.3
An insect trap hanging in an almond tree, with records of weekly observed pest
counts.
life strategies, as the almond industry learned when it learned about the
autecology of the NOW. Partnerships have developed insect-specific
monitoring skills and insect identification guides for pest and beneficial
insects. During the heyday of the chemical revolution, many growers and
PCAs believed that “the only good bug is a dead bug,” but most grow-
ers have since recognized the impracticality of this. Growers and PCAs
in general recognize that “good bugs as well as bad bugs exist,” but part-
nerships try to facilitate a more sophisticated understanding of the
dynamic relationships of pests, their predators, and their agroecological
condition.
The second step develops enhanced understanding of the agroecologi-
cal relationships between various insects, especially predation and
parasitism. These relationships are largely invisible to the untrained eye,
so partnerships help growers and PCAs learn to see them by trapping,
identifying and monitoring evidence of the insect pest and its natural
enemies (figure 5.3). Partnership leaders hope this information can help
