Project Introduction
Partnering Agencies
- Washington State Department of Agriculture
- North Yakima Conservation District
- USDA-ARS
- Washington State University
- Yakima County and Chelan County
Importance
- It currently costs $500,000 annually to manage the apple maggot and each year the cost of controlling invasive pests continues to rise.
- $220,000 Grant over two years to prove the feasibility of host removal and replacement
- Reducing Alternative Hosts is a better method of pest management
- Cost of this strategy is high initially. After 5 years is less costly than sprays.
- Habitat Manipulation is an effective and more ecologically sound method of pest management.
- It is beneficial to commercial growers by reducing trade barriers and removing hosts causing trouble for growers.
Goals
- Reduced Pest Population
- Reduced Spray Applications
- Reduced Apple Maggot Detections
- Increased Profitabiltiy
- Attain/Maintain “Pest Free Status”
Outcomes
Pest Management Fact Sheets
Fruit Pest Management Tips: Recognizing Western Cherry Fruit Fly Rhagoletis indifferens (PDF)
Home Orchard Fruit Pest Management Tips: Recognizing Apple Maggot Rhagoletis pomonells (PDF)
Home Orchard Fruit Pest Management Tips: Codling Moth vs Apple Maggot (PDF)
Fruit Pest Management Tips: Recognizing Walnut Husk Fly Rhagoletis completa (PDF)
Website Resources
Hortsense Fact Sheet Apple: Apple Maggot
Pacific Northwest Pest Management Handbook – Apple: Apple Maggot Rhagoletis polmonella
Using Integrated Pest Management in the Landscape
Removal of Neglected Hawthorn and Fruit Trees
- Done in partnership with landowners
- Host tree is removed and replacement trees are planted of equal or greater ecological value
Feral apple tree removal
Hawthorn tree being removed