Integrated Pest Management Practices in Southern Pine Nurseries

Integrated Pest Management is a system that combines cultural, biological and chemical technologies to reduce insect, fungal and weed populations to levels below those that result in economic damage. Nursery managers in the southern United States currently use many practices to control pests of southern pine seedlings. Over the last three decades, improvements in chemical, cultural, and biological pest control practices have increased seed efficiency (defined as the number of plantable seedlings produced divided by the number of pure live seed sown) and reduced the percentage of production costs associated with pest control. As crop values increase, the economic thresholds for applying control measures decrease. However, since the statistical power of most trials in bareroot nurseries is low, the likelihood of experiments that detect “real” treatment difference (e.g. those that consistently increase seed efficiency to the point where economic returns are affected) will be low. This paper describes some current practices in southern pine nurseries and provides some economic injury levels for various pest control treatments.