Enhance Protection and Safety of the Nations Agricultural and Food Supply - Debugging Alfalfa Fields.
Abstract
Alfalfa is the most important forage species in the U. S., grown on 9,526,810 hectares in 2003 producing 71,234,870 metric tons of forage. Due to successful USDA-ARS classical biological control projects, insect pest control for alfalfa has been biologically based. However, another pest, the tarnished plant bug (Lygus lineolaris), not only feeds on alfalfa but it is a pest of over half of the 30 most important crops in the U. S. Thus, chemically spraying at any time will also kill the beneficials, thereby, increasing the need for additional spraying. If the tarnished plant bug can be brought under control with a biological control method, it will save food and fiber producers an estimated 350 million dollars annually similar to money being saved with controlling the alfalfa weevil biologically. The project is a joint effort with the USDA-ARS Beneficial Insect Introduction Research Lab (BIIRL), Newark, Delaware and it supports the following national goals: 1) Safe and Secure Food and Fiber Systems and 2) Harmony between Agriculture and the Environment.
