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A Key Online IPM Resource

September 2016 – The use of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and biocontrol in the greenhouse industry is growing exponentially and greenhouse growers are looking for resources to better understand how to manage pests and biocontrol agents within their production system. A new online tool, Greenhouseipm.org, has been launched to meet this need.

Greenhouseipm.org, is an independent information resource designed to improve productivity and the bottom line for growers while promoting sustainability. The website serves both the floriculture and vegetable greenhouse sectors in multiple ways.

• Assists industry professionals to effectively identify pests and select proven IPM and biocontrol approaches.
• Focuses on North American production systems and biocontrol agents available in this geographical location.
• Ties together all aspects of biocontrol-based IPM.
• Need for risk-reduction resources.

A national floriculture pesticide risk-reduction working group was established in 2010 through the pesticide risk reduction program of the Pest Management Centre (PMC). Through discussions, the need for consolidated, user-friendly information was identified as a critically important step toward achieving pesticide risk reduction in greenhouses.

Greenhouseipm.org, offers up-to-date information on IPM and biological control in the greenhouse setting. The new website provides detailed descriptions of pests and biocontrol agents as well as instructions on the use of biocontrols within an IPM program. The site is populated with technical and user-friendly information written by industry experts.

THE CURRENT FOCUS IS ON CONTROL OF WHITEFLIES AND THRIPS
The website currently focuses on control of two key pests, whiteflies and thrips. As the site develops, it will evolve to encompass all common types of insect and mite pests, as well as greenhouse crop diseases.

Growers can visit the news and events section of the website for updates on upcoming workshops and seminars and new resources. Growers can also access and follow the ONFloriculture blog managed by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) industry experts. This blog provides Ontario greenhouse floriculture growers with timely, technical information.

THE SITE MADE ITS INDUSTRY DEBUT AT CANADIAN GREENHOUSE CONFERENCE IN 2015
Greenhouseipm.org, was first developed in 2011. In 2015, the site underwent a major revision and expansion and debuted later that year at the Canadian Greenhouse Conference with growers testing the site and providing feedback. The website has since attracted visitors from around the world including India, the United States and the Netherlands.

“Reactions from growers have been positive. One grower told me that the site is his reference and that he regularly visits to find information on how to control greenhouse pests. Our goal is to have every greenhouse grower finding the site this useful,” explains Dr. Rose Buitenhuis, research scientist, biological control at Vineland Research and Innovation Centre (Vineland) and contributor to Greenhouseipm.org.

Greenhouseipm.org, is a dynamic website and content creators encourage growers to reach out with recommendations for additional research or resources. For more information, please contact Buitenhuis at rose.buitenhuis@vinelandresearch.com.

The website is a partnership between Flowers Canada Growers, OMAFRA, Vineland, and Agriculture Agri-Food Canada’s PMC. The Greenhouseipm.org, website was developed with financial support from the International Organization of Biological Control – Nearctic Regional Section, the pesticide risk reduction program via the strategy implementation project PRR10-230, and Ontario Farm and Innovation Program via Project #0066.

Shelby VanderEnde is the coordinator of Communications and Public Relations at the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre.