Features
Inside View: Let’s get together

Because of the way we’ve set up our worldwide plant distribution industry, many pests are now widespread, affecting various geographic regions, some bordering on ubiquitous worldwide. For example, Western Flower Thrips (WFT, Frankliniella occidentalis) is native to the Southwestern U.S., but partly because of the massive international trade in cut flowers and ornamentals cuttings, it has grown to become an invasive pest and vector of viruses in much of agriculture globally. Indeed, it is considered by many to be the number 1 insect pest worldwide, particularly in greenhouse crops. So, we need to pool our pest knowledge and understanding, and develop the most effective control strategies.

Which got me to wondering: ‘am I missing something in the way we do our strategic pest management planning?’

At continental level, we have academic meetings such as those organized by the International Organisation for Biological and Integrated Control (IOBC), which has six ‘regional’ groups. These are fabulous events, intent on sharing knowledge and experience. But my experience is that they are meetings of researchers, academics and commercial IPM companies/consultants, with very few grower practitioners attending. I also wonder (out of ignorance) if they really develop ‘coherent, strategic regional pest management plans’ or if they are just (but wonderful) platforms for information exchange?

Obviously, pest management options are developed at national level through government research and extension departments (e.g. through CFIA). These are vital sources of pest biology information, particularly when dealing with new pest species. But are they the best medium for developing regional management strategies?

At Provincial level, this information is distributed and applied through the Ministry of Agriculture and pest control companies. Again, a great source of knowledge, but this is primarily ‘top down’. In B.C., for greenhouse vegetable crops, we have our annual ‘Minor Use Townhall’ meetings. These meetings involve government staff, biocontrol supply companies and distributors, and a small number of growers, and input is collated from Provincial to National level. But could there be more collaboration and strategy in developing control plans, rather than just pesticide priority setting; i.e. should there be ‘collaborative pest management planning’?

Recently, I came across an article: “US: Strategic plan laid out for South East pest protection”¹, the essence of which is as follows: 

The Pest Management Strategic Plan (PMSP) 2023 for Strawberries in VA, NC, SC, GA, and FL was developed by “twenty growers, University Extension Specialists, industry representatives, and USDA’s Office of Pest Management Policy plant pathologists”¹“In January 2024, thirty-eight additional growers, University Extension Specialists, and industry representatives met in Savannah, GA, to collect the PMSP data related to South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. This (2025) PMSP for strawberry production in the southeast of the U.S. was developed with the pooled data from these two workshop sessions.”¹ “These workshop sessions aimed to develop a comprehensive list of pests, biological control agents, and chemical and cultural control tactics used in the region.”¹ Priorities identified include Regulatory, Research, and Education. “Grower participation was vital to developing this document.With their contributions, we are presenting the current challenges and needs of the strawberry industry in the southeast region of the U.S.”¹ 

Perhaps I’m not aware of it, but I don’t know of such grower/researcher/extension-inclusive workshops that take place in Canada to develop strategic pest management plans for specific crop disciplines. Yes, there are committees that collect information and pass it ‘up the chain’. But perhaps we should develop these workshops like those mentioned above, to build such crop specific pest management plans with a local/regional focus. Update them annually, or whenever there is an important new pest/disease to be considered, a new biocontrol or chemical option available, or a failure in one or more of our existing control options.

What do you think? Does this system already exist? If not, how should we go about setting it up? Who should be the lead to drive this? How could it be funded? Hmm. Lots of questions. Which is fine, and I’ll leave them with you, if you don’t mind.

1. Source NC State Extension, reported in HortiDaily.com, Thur 2 Jan 2025

Gary Jones sits on several greenhouse industry committees in BC and welcomes comments at greenhousewolf@gmail.com.