The importance of forecasting and warning systems in implementation of integrated pest management in apple orchards in Turkey*

Abstract

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) has been widely implemented in apple orchards in various regions of Turkey. Between 1995 and 1999, in Central Anatolia and the Aegean Region, apple scab (Venturia inequalis) and codling moth (Cydia pomonella) were key pests, and implementation of pest control was based on forecasting and warning systems. During the project, orchards in which IPM was implemented and in which farmers applied conventional practices were compared. In nine provinces in which IPM projects were carried out in 1999, the damage due to codling moth was 0–1.3% in IPM orchards while it was 0.4–21.8% in nearby non‐IPM orchards. It is clear that damage did not reach the acceptable threshold level of 2% in any of the IPM orchards, while damage was much higher than the threshold in conventionally‐farmed orchards. The number of fungicide applications against apple scab decreased to 5–6 applications from 10–15 applications in the Eğirdir district of the Isparta Province in 1996 as a result of IPM implementation. No insecticides were applied against codling moth in IPM orchards in the Nigde Province in 1998 and 1999 because population levels of the pest were low and under the economic threshold. Apple producers received training and 1200 producers from Central Anatolia became experts in IPM for their own orchards, learning to make appropriate decisions about pest control. The Apple IPM Guideline was prepared and disseminated. In Turkey modern equipment for forecasting and warning systems was employed and, in the last decade, forecasting and warning networks have been improved. Computer‐based systems have increased the speed and accuracy of forecasting as well as decreasing its costs. A computerized national forecasting network in apple orchards now transmits data from the field to system headquarters automatically. The national forecasting network has been expanded and covered 12 208 800 apple trees in 34 provinces in 2006, using 115 electronic forecasting and warning stations.