United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Plant Protection and Quarantine



# Importation of oversized Dracaena spp. plants

from Costa Rica into the continental United

States

7 CFR 319.37

Risk Management Document

December 16, 2010

Revised June 10, 2011, June 13, 2011, August 3, 2011 and August 25, 20111 

### Introduction

The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), 7 CFR 319.37, currently allows the importation of

Dracaena spp. plants from Costa Rica into the United States. However, Dracaena spp. plants regulated in 7 CFR 319.37-2(b)(6)(i) cannot exceed “... 460 millimeters (approximately 18 inches) in length from soil line (top of rooting z one for plants produced by air layering) to the farthest terminal growing point ...” (CFR, 2010). The National Pl ant Protection Organization (NPPO) of Costa Rica, the National Phytosanitary Service of the Ministry of Agriculture and Husbandry (MAG-SFE), has requested the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)

to increase the size restricti on to 1.37 m (54 inches).

In response to the request by Costa Rica to change 7 CFR 319.37- 2(b)(6)(i), APHIS has conducted a pest risk asse ssment (PRA), entitled “ Importation of oversized Dracaena spp. as ornamental plants from Costa Rica into the continental United States ” (USDA, 2010). In the PRA, 15 quarantine pests were identified that may follow the pathway on Dracaena plants from Costa Rica. These include ten arthropods a nd five mollusks, as listed in Table 1.

Table 1. Quarantine pests that may follow the pathway on Dracaena plants from Costa Rica

Type Taxonomy Organism

Arthropods Coleoptera: Scolytidae Xylosandrus morigerus (Blandford)

Hemiptera: Cicadellidae Caldwelliola reservata (Fowler)

Oncometopia clarior (Walker)

Hemiptera: Coccidae Coccus viridis (Green)

Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae Planococcus minor (Maskell)

Pseudococcus landoi (Balachowsky)

Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae Ancistrocercus circumdatus (Walker)

Erioloides consobrinus (Saussure and Pictet)

Neoconocephalus affinis (Beauvois)

Thysanoptera: Thripidae Chaetanaphothrips signipennis (Bagnall)

Mollusks Soleolifera: Veronicellidae Diplosolenodes occidentalis (Guilding)

Sarasinula plebeia (Fisher)

Stylommatophora: Helicarionidae Ovachlamys fulgens (Gude)

Pallifera costaricensis (Mörch)

Succinea costaricana (Von Martens)

Source: USDA (2010).

Ancistrocercus circumdatus

, Chaetanaphothrips signipennis, Erioloides consobrinus

, Neoconocephalus affinis and Pallifera costaricensis were assigned a Medium pest risk potential and the remaining pests were assigned a High pest risk potential. Specific phytosanitary measures may be necessary for pests with Me dium pest risk potentials, and are strongly recommended for pests with High pest risk potentials (USDA, 2000).2 The PRA demonstrated high pest inter ception rates on currently enterable Dracaena plants imported from Costa Rica. Since 1984, over 11,000 pests have been intercepted on Dracaena

from Costa Rica. Several efforts have been in itiated in the past years to reduce the high interception rates on comm ercial consignments of Dracaena spp. from Costa Rica. This has culminated in the developmen t of a bi-lateral operational workplan between MAG-SFE and APHIS (MAG-SFE and APHIS, 2010). Under the requiremen ts of the workplan, all Dracaena imported from Costa Rica into the continental United States must be produced, packed and exported under an integrated meas ures approach, with the intent of reducing pest interception

rates 1

.

APHIS is subsequently proposing to amend 7 CFR 319.37-2(b)(6)(i) by requiring that all

Dracaena from Costa Rica regulated in this paragraph may be imported into the continental United States only, and that all plants must comply with the written agreement signed by MAGSFE and APHIS. APHIS is also proposing to in crease the size restricti on to 54 inches for

Dracaena plants imported from Costa Rica into the continental United States.

In this document, proposed risk management meas ures are described for th e quarantine pests that may follow the pathway on Dracaena from Costa Rica.



### Risk management measures

1. Size: Dracaena plants may not exceed 1,371.6 millimeter s (54 inches) in length from the soil line (or the top of the rooting zone for pl ants produced by air laye ring) to the farthest terminal growing point.

2. Operational Workplan: The plants must be grown in compliance with a written agreement signed by MAG-SFE and APHIS, hencefor th referred to as the bi-lateral operational “workplan”. The workplan establishes requi rements including: participant approval and registration; facility inspection, approval and re gistration; training; pest management plans and practices; traceability; sanitation; inspections; removal of infested plant material; recordkeeping; a Phytosanitary Certificate and Additional Decl aration; monitoring and oversight by MAG-SFE and APHIS; and non-complian ce and corrective actions.

3. Participant Registration: Producers, packers and exporters must be approved and registered by MAG-SFE as partic ipants in the program to export Dracaena spp. to the United

States. Dracaena plants must be grown, packed, stor ed and exported in compliance with a written agreement between the participant and MAG-SFE, and the participant must agree to comply with the provisions of the CFR and the workplan.

4. Facility Registration: Production, packing and export f acilities must be inspected, approved and registered by MAG-SFE for inclusion in the program. Registered packing facilities processing Dracaena plants for export to the United States may only accept plants from registered production facilities where plants ar e grown in compliance w ith the workplan. This must be verifiable by appropria te records and documentation.3 5. List of Participants and Facilities: MAG-SFE must maintain a list of approved participants and their approved facilities. MAG-SFE must provide this list to APHIS annually and when changes occur.

6. Training: Participants and personnel at ap proved production, packing and export facilities must be trained in the requirements of the workplan and in reco gnizing the target pests outlined in the workplan. Training records must be maintained and made available to MAG-SFE and APHIS on request.

7. Pest Management Program: Participants must establish a pest management plan for all approved production, packing and export facilities in the program. Pest management plans must include field or facility scouting, monitoring and c ontrol for target pests, and must be approved and audited by MAG-SFE and APHIS. Each approve d facility must have a trained, dedicated person to supervise the pest mana gement program. Records of pest management activities must

be maintained and made availabl e to MAG-SFE and APHIS on request.

8. Traceability: Participants must establish a traceability system approved and audited by MAG-SFE and APHIS, as outlined in the wo rkplan. The identity and origin of the Dracaena plants must be maintained from the production un it, through the packing and export facilities, to the port-of-entry in the United States for tr aceability back through the export and packing facilities to the production unit. Dracaena plants transported between production and packing facilities, processed at packing f acilities, and exported to the Unite d States must be appropriately separated and identified throughout the process.

9. Sanitation: Sanitation measures must be maintain ed at approved production, packing and export facilities, as outlined in the workplan. Fa llen or discarded plant ma terial and debris, or plants with pests must be rem oved, and must not be included in field containers brought from production to packing facilities fo r export. Packing facili ties must be free of sand, soil, earth, and plant pests, and phytosanitary practices adequate to exclude plant pests must be employed. Sanitation of equipment, materials and tools must be maintained to avoid spreading pests or to prevent re-contamination.

10. Good Agricultural Practices: Participants must employ the “Good Agricultural Practices” program 2 established by MAG-SFE at appr oved production, packing and export facilities, as outlined in the workplan. At production facilitie s, growing prac tices aimed at limiting initial infestations and/or reducing pest populat ions must be employed.

11. Inspections: Approved production, packing and expor t facilities must be inspected by dedicated trained personnel at the approved facilities, at leas t once weekly, and by MAG-SFE at least once monthly. Inspection date s and results must be record ed and must be available on

request.

12. Removal of infested plant material: Packing facilities must reject infested plant material and MAG-SFE must suspend in fested production units from exporting Dracaena to the United States. Only production units and packing f acilities that are determined to be free of quarantine pests upon inspection may continue the packing process for export, and this must be4 verified by appropriate records and documentation. If pests or signs of pests are found, exports from those sites must be suspended until a phyto sanitary corrective action is implemented and inspection shows that the infest ation has been eradicated. The actions must be appropriately documented and the participant must receive approval from MAG-SFE to re-initiate the operation.

13. Recordkeeping: Participants must maintain records of the actions related to the program, the corrective measures taken on detected irregula rities, and the records must be available on request. Records must be maintained for a minimum of three years.

14. General Requirements: Participants must comply with all other applicable requirements in 7 CFR 319.37, including approved packing ma terial (319.37-9) and marking and identity (319.37-10). Packing material must be free of sand, soil, earth and plant pe sts and must not have been used previously.

15. Phytosanitary Certificate a nd Additional Declaration: Each consignment of Dracaena plants must be inspected by MAG-SFE before export. For each consignment, MAG-SFE must issue a Phytosanitary Certificate with an Additional Declaration stating that:

“The plants in this consignment have been produced, packed, stored and exported in accordance with the requirements of 7 CFR 319.37 and the bi-lateral operational workplan between Costa Rica and the United St ates. The plants in the consignment are from approved production, packing and export facilities and were inspected and found free of quarantine pests.”

Shipping documents accompanying consignments of Dracaena spp. plants from Costa Rica to

the United States must include the official re gistration number of the place of production at

which the Dracaena spp. plants were grown, and must iden tify the packing facility in which the plants were processed. This identification must be maintained until the plants are released for entry into the United States.

16. Non-Compliance and Corrective Actions: MAG-SFE must take corrective action in the case of non-compliance with procedures establ ished in the workplan. Corrective actions may include remedial actions, temporar y suspension of participants until an investigation is conducted and/or non-compliance is addressed, or permanen t suspension of participants with repetitive minor non-compliances or with serious non-compliances. This in cludes temporary or permanent suspension of participants with interceptions at the port-of-entry in the United States. MAG-SFE must inform APHIS of suspended participants.

17. Oversight by MAG-SFE: MAG-SFE must inspect, approve and register all production, packing and export facilities included in the program, ensure that participants follow the guidelines, and monitor the program activities as outlined in the work plan.

18. Oversight by APHIS: APHIS may monitor and audit the program, as agreed by MAGSFE and APHIS.5 19. Port-of-entry Inspection: Dracaena plants are subject to standard port-of-entry inspection upon arrival in the United States.



### Discussion of risk management measures

The requirements outlined above comprise a “s ystems approach” with a combination of measures aimed at reducing pest risk. The In ternational Plant Prot ection Convention (IPPC) defines a “systems approach” as “The integration of different risk manage ment measures, at least two of which act independently, and which cumu latively achieve the appropriate level of protection against regulated pe sts” (IPPC, 2010). Similarly, th e Plant Protection Act of 2000 (SEC. 401. 7 U.S.C. 7701) defines a “systems a pproach” as “...a defined set of phytosanitary procedures, at least two of which have an indepe ndent effect in mitigating pest risk associated

with the movement of commodities.”

Systems approaches are employed by an importing country to achieve an appropriate level of phytosanitary protection as an alte rnative to the use of single measures when a single measure does not exist, or is not feasible or desirable. The combinations of measures comprising systems approaches provide overl apping or sequential safeguards rath er than depending on single risk management methods, such as fumigation or inspection alone (Jang and Moffitt, 1994; USDA, 2010). The key categories of risk management measures included in the systems approach proposed for oversized Dracaena from Costa Rica are described below.

Risk management measures at the production and packing facilities

Measures at production facilities. The systems approach above includes various measures at production sites aimed at managing the pests in Table 1, and which must be approved and audited by MAG-SFE and APHIS. These in clude Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) 2

, sanitation, regular field inspections , removal of infested plant ma terial, traceability and a pest management plan which includes pest monitoring and control. Table 2 summarizes the relation of these measures to the quarant ine pests listed in Table 1.

Measures at packing facilities. Participants at packinghouses are required to follow handling practices outlined in the GAP proposed by MAG-SFE (MAG-SFE and APHIS, 2010). These practices aim to prevent or minimize pest infestat ions, and include details such as infrastructure and equipment, distribution of processing ar eas, sanitation, inspecti ons and traceability. Participants are also required to establish pest management plans, which include monitoring and control for target pests. Registered packing facilities processing Dracaena plants for export to the United States may only accept plants from regi stered production facilities where plants are grown in compliance with the workplan. Packing f acilities must reject infested plant material, and only production units that ar e determined to be free of qua rantine pests may continue the packing process for export. These measures are aimed at managing risks of all quarantine pests

listed in Table 1.

Inspection, oversight and administrative measures6 Improper production and handling practices are often the primary means by which pests are introduced and spread in th e place of production (Jones a nd Benson, 2001). The phytosanitary inspections, oversight, written agreements a nd administrative measures included in the requirements above, therefore provide additional phytosanitary quality control and rigor, and reduce the possibilities of improper practices be ing employed. Phytosanitary inspections are widely recognized as an importa nt part of a pest management program (Kahn and Mathur, 1999). Inspection, oversight and admini strative requirements are aimed at managing the risks of all quarantine pests listed in Table 1, and the propos ed measures include various requirements in this regard. E.g.:

 A written agreement between APHIS and MAG-SFE, i.e. the “workplan”.

 Written agreements between MAG-SFE and the program participants.

 Approval and registration of pr oducers, packers and exporters as program participants; and inspection, approval and regist ration of facilities included in the program. MAG-SFE is responsible for the approval and registration pr ocess, must maintain a list of approved participants and their approved facilities, and must provide this list to APHIS annually and when changes occur.

 Training of participants and pe rsonnel at approved production, packing and export facilities.

 Documentation and record-keeping. Participants must maintain r ecords of the ac tions related to the program, the corrective measures taken on detected irregularities, and the records must be available on request. Records must be ma intained for a minimum of three years.

 Inspections of approved production, packing a nd export facilities must be conducted by dedicated, trained personnel at least once weekly and by M AG-SFE at least once monthly. Only production units and packing fa cilities that are determined to be free of quarantine pests upon inspection may continue the packing proce ss for export, as verified by records and documentation. If pests or signs of pests are found, exports from those sites must be suspended until a phytosanitary corrective action is implemented and inspection shows that

the infestation has been eradi cated. The actions must be appr opriately documented and the participant must receive approval from MAG-SFE to re-initiate the operation.

 MAG-SFE must inspect each consignment of Dracaena plants before export and must issue a Phytosanitary Certificate and Additional Declaration.

 Participants must establish a traceability system approved and audited by MAG-SFE and APHIS. The identity and origin of Dracaena plants must be mainta ined from the production unit, through the packing and e xport facilities, to the port-of-e ntry in the United States for traceability back through th e export and packing facilitie s to the production unit.

 MAG-SFE must inspect, approve and register all production, packing and export facilities included in the program, ensure that particip ants follow the guidelines, and monitor the7 program activities outlined in the workplan. MA G-SFE must take corrective action in the case of con-compliance with procedures established in the workplan.

 APHIS may monitor and audit the progra m, as agreed by MAG-SFE and APHIS.

 Dracaena plants are subject to standard port-of -entry inspection upon a rrival in the United

States.



### Notes

1. Dracaena plants are also regulated in 7 CFR 319.37-2( b)(4). These plants include single-stem canes without leaves, roots, sprouts, and branches, not to exceed 1.83 m (6 feet) in length. No change in size was requested for the single-stem canes. MAG-SFE has also requested APHIS to exempt the single-stem canes from the bi-later al operational workplan, because the single-stem canes have not been associated with the high levels of pest interceptions that have been recorded for the plants regulated in 7 CFR 319.37-2(b)(6)(i).

APHIS has considered this request and the interc eption data presented in the PRA (PestID, 2010; USDA, 2010). The PRA indicated that ove r 11,000 pests have been intercepted on Dracaena from Costa Rica since 1984. However, 84 percent of the pests were intercepted from the leaves

of the Dracaena plants, indicating the leaves of the plants as the major pathway for the intercepted pests. All single-stem canes regu lated in 7 CFR 319.37-2(b)(4) must be without leaves, roots, sprouts and branch es. Since the plants must be w ithout leaves, the major pathway for these pests has been removed fr om the commodity being imported.

Given that the single-stem canes are without leaves, and have been associated with low interception rates over several years (M. Gonzaléz, APHIS-IS, Costa Rica, personal communication; MAG-SFE, personal communication), they will therefore not be included in the proposed rule changes for 7 CFR 319.37-2(b)(6)( i). In this Risk Ma nagement Document,

“ Dracaena plants” therefore refer to those plants regulated in 7 CFR 319.37-2(b)(6)(i) only.

If in future, pests are intercepted at higher rate s from the single-stem canes regulated in 7 CFR 319.37-2(b)(4), or APHIS finds additional evidence of the presence of quarantine pests in Costa

Rica and their association with Dracaena spp., the risk associated with the single-stem canes will

be re-evaluated.

2. In the bi-lateral operational workplan signed between Costa Rica and the United States for the importation of currently enterable Dracaena , Costa Rica proposed a “Good Agricultural Practices” plan (GAP) for the production and processing of Dracaena plants (MAG-SFE and APHIS, 2010). This includes various cultural an d handling practices at production and packing facilities, e.g. practices which im prove plant health and vigor; re nder plants less susceptible to pests; assist in preventing the introduction of pests; remove or manage conditions that favor increases in pest population levels ; and assist in maintaining tr aceability. At production sites, GAP may include practices such as tillage, drai nage, pruning, fertiliza tion, watering and others. E.g., plants with high foliar nitrogen levels a nd drought-stressed plants are known to favor high pest populations. Improper productio n practices are often the prim ary means by which pests are8 introduced and spread in the place of production (Pirone, 1978; Bodman et al., 1996; Kahn and Mathur, 1999; Dreistadt and Phill ips, 2001; Jones and Benson, 2001).



### References

Bodman, K.; Carson, C.; Forsberg, L.; Gough, N.; Hughes, I.; Parker, R.; Ramsey, M. and

M. Waterhouse. 1996. Ornamental Plants. De pt. Primary Industries, Info. Series QI 96001,

Australia.

Capinera, J. L. 2001. Handbook of Vegetable Pe sts. Academic Press, San Diego. 729 pp.

Cibrián Tovar, D., J. T. Méndez Montiel, R. Campos Bolaños, H. O. Yates III, and J. E. Flores

Lara. 1995. Forest Insects of Mexico. Univer sidad Autónoma Chapingo, Chapingo, Mexico.

Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). 2010. 7 CFR 319.37. Subpart—Nursery Stock, Plants, Roots, Bulbs, Seeds, and Other Plant Products. http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov /cgi/t/text/textidx?c=ecfr;sid=2a8df74fb1ab07b074e0b6123ae3 1608;rgn=div5;view=t ext;node=7%3A5.1.1.1.6 ;idno=7;cc=ecfr#7:5.1.1.1.6.8 [accessed December 2010].

Coto, T. D., and J. L. Saunders. 1987. Biologi a y Conportamiento de las Babosas en el Laboratorio y su Medio Ambiente . [Biology and behavior of sna ils in the laboratory and their environment]. CEIBA 28(2):179-192.

Drees, B. M., and J. A. Jackman. 1999. Field guide to Texas insects. Gulf Publishing Company,

Houston,Texas.

Drees, B. M., J. A. Jackman, and M. E. Me rchant. 1994. Wood-boring insects of trees and shrubs. Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas. http://insects.tamu.edu/exte nsion/bulletins/b-5086.html

Dreistadt, S. H. 1994. Pests of landscape trees an d shrubs: an integrated pest management guide. University of California, Davis, California.

Dreistadt, S. H., and P. A. Phillips. 2001. Thrips (Pest Notes No. 7429). University of California, Davis, California.

International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC). 2010. International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures. ISPM No. 5. Glossary of Phytosanitary Terms. https://www.ippc.int/servlet/BinaryDow nloaderServlet/184195_ISPM05_2007_E.doc?filename=

1180102644600_ISPM_05_2007.doc&refID=184195 [accessed December 2010].

Jang, E. B. and H. R. Moffitt. 1994. Systems appro aches to achieving quara ntine security. In: J. L. Sharp and G. J. Hallman (eds.). 1994. Quar antine treatments for pests of food plants. Westview Press, Boulder.9 Jones, R. K. and D. M. Benson. 2001. Diseases of Woody Ornamentals and Trees in Nurseries. APS Press, St. Paul.

Kahn, R. P. and S. B. Mathur. 1999. Containment F acilities and Safeguards. APS Press, St. Paul.

Lenis, F. E. 2006. Clean Stock Program, Farm Visit Report. Costa Rica, April 17-21, 2006.

MAG-SFE and APHIS. 2010. Work Plan for the Co sta Rican Clean Stock Certification Program. National Phytosanitary Service of the Ministry of Agriculture and Husbandry (MAG-SFE), Costa Rica, and the Animal and Plant Health Insp ection Service (APHIS), United States. June 7, 2010. 50 pp.

Oliver, J. B., and C. M. Mannion. 2001. Ambrosia beetle (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) species attacking chestnut and captured in ethanol-baited traps in middle Tennessee. Environmental Entomology 30(5): 909-918.

Pirone, P. P. 1978. Diseases and Pests of Orname ntal Plants, 5th ed. J ohn Wiley and Sons, New

York.

Plant Protection Act. 2000. SEC. 401. 7 U.S.C. 7701.

Rosen, D. 1990. Armored Scale Insects: Their Bi ology, Natural Enemies and Control. Volume 4B. Elsevier, Amsterdam. 688 pp.

Symondson, W. 1996. Slug Contro l. Cardiff University. Cardiff, United Kingdom. http://www.cf.ac.uk/biosi/research/biodiversity/staff/wocs2.html

Tenbrick, V. L., and A. H. Hara. 1994. Xylosandr us compactus (Eichoff). In Crop Knowledge Master. University of Hawaii. Manoa, Hawaii.

United States Department of Agriculture (US DA). 2000. Guidelines for pathway-initiated pest

risk assessments. Version 5.02. Animal and Plan t Health Inspection Se rvice, Riverdale, Maryland.

United States Department of Agriculture (US DA). 2010. Importation of oversized Dracaena spp. as ornamental plants from Costa Rica into the continental United States. Pest Risk Assessment, Plant Epidemiology and Risk Analysis Laborat ory, Center for Plant Health Science and Technology, Animal and Plant Health Inspectio n Service, United States Department of Agriculture.10Table 2. Discussion of pest risk management measures for Costa RicaDracaenaat production sitesPest Risk ManagementMeasuresCommentsReferencesAmbrosiaBeetles:Xylosandrusmorigerus* Good AgriculturalPractices (GAP)* Sanitation* Field inspections* Removal of infestedplant material* Traceability* Pest management plan,including monitoring andcontrolAmbrosia beetles are difficult to control, and measures should be taken to prevent initialinfestation. Measures improving plant health and removing conditions that favor attack bywood-boring insects should be employed. Thismay include fertilization, watering, pruning,treatment of plant wounds, removing dead or dying plant parts and plant debris, andcontrolling pests and pathogens that attack the plant.A pest management plan should include trapping, monitoring, field inspections for signs ofinfestation, and pest control as appropriate. Visible symptoms of infestation may includewilted leaves, compressed columns of masticatedwood and frass projecting outwards fromthe entrance hole. Plants infested withX.morigerusshould be removed.Timing of insecticide applications to control ambrosia beetles is critical and must bedetermined experimentally for the region and species of concern. Chlorpyrifos is used tocontrol ambrosia beetles in the United States.Pirone, 1978;Drees et al.,1994; Tenbrickand Hara, 1994;Cibrián Tovar etal., 1995; Dreesand Jackman,1999; Oliver andMannion, 2001;USDA, 2010Scales andMealybugs:Coccus viridisPlanococcusminorPseudococcuslandoi* GAP* Sanitation* Field inspections* Removal of infestedplant material* Traceability* Pest management plan,including monitoring andcontrol.Measures should be taken to improve plant vigor and to prevent initial infestation. Thesemay include cultural methods, such as regularwatering and fertilization. Ants should becontrolled because some may tend scales and favor high pest populations. Although highpressure water sprays can be used to physically remove mealybugs from infested plantmaterial, these are ineffective against most other scale insects.A pest management plan should include trapping, monitoring, field inspections for signs ofinfestation, and pest control as appropriate. Direct observation, pheromone traps andadhesive traps have been used to monitor scale insect populations. Direct observation ofcrawler emergence is used to time subsequentcontrol efforts. If scales are localized to aportion of the plant, the infested area should be removed and destroyed.Insecticidal soaps and narrow-range oils areeffective against scale eggs and crawlers.Augmentive releases of commercially available natural enemies may reduce pestpopulations. Narrow spectrum or systemic insecticides may be needed if other methods arenot effective.Rosen, 1990;Dreistadt, 1994;Capinera, 2001;USDA, 201011Thrips:Chaetanaphothripssignipennis* GAP* Sanitation* Field inspections* Removal ofinfested plantmaterial* Traceability* Pest managementplan, includingmonitoring andcontrol.Measures improving plant health and removingconditions that favor increases in thripspopulations should be employed. This may include the use of fertilizers that release nitrogenslowly, regular watering and selective pruning. Plants with high foliar nitrogen levels anddrought-stressed plants favor high thrips populations. Cultural methods such as weed controland the use of reflective mulch are also encouraged.A pest management plan should include trapping, monitoring, field inspections for signs ofinfestation, and pest control as appropriate. Thrips are small, so monitoring requires a handlens. Plant material showing signs of thrips should be carefully examined, e.g. any plant partthat is stippled, flecked with pale dots or distorted. In addition to inspecting for damage,thrips can be sampled by beating foliage and branches. Adult populations can be monitoredusing yellow or blue sticky traps, and the color depends on the species of interest. Infestedand damaged plant parts should be removed and destroyed.Methods to control or reduce thrips populations may include insecticidal soaps and narrowrange oils, augmentive releases of predaceous mites and systemic insecticides.Dreistadt, 1994;Dreistadt andPhillips, 2001;USDA, 2010Cicadellidae andTettigoniidae:CaldwelliolareservataOncometopiaclariorAncistrocercuscircumdatusErioloidesconsobrinusNeoconocephalusaffinis* GAP* Sanitation* Field inspections* Removal ofinfested plantmaterial* Traceability* Pest managementplan, includingmonitoring andcontrolLand management is an important element of an orthopteran pest management program.Large patches of weedy vegetation that include annual and perennial grasses favororthopteran survival, and should be eliminated. Tillage is an effective method to removeweeds because it destroys the eggs of some pest species. However, tillage does not removeeggs from the edges of fields, irrigation ditches, and roadways, which are favorite ovipositionsites for some Orthoptera. Physical barriers such as netting have been used, but Orthopteracan chew through nets that are not constructedfrom metal screens. Trenches with steep sidesand vertical metal barriers topped with deflectors can prevent crickets from invading crops.Management strategies are poorly defined for many Orthoptera. An integrated pestmanagement plan, including monitoring and control, is therefore recommended. Orthopteranpest populations can be detected by visual inspection of the commodity and nearby weedyareas. Collected specimens should be identifiedbecause many Orthoptera occurring in andaround commodities are not pests. Biological control has been used in addition to chemicalcontrol. Plant material must be carefully examined prior to its introduction into growing andpacking areas, and infested plant material must be removed and destroyed.Capinera, 2001;Lenis, 2006;USDA, 201012Snails and Slugs:DiplosolenodesoccidentalisSarasinulaplebeiaOvachlamysfulgensPalliferacostaricensisSuccineacostaricana* GAP* Sanitation* Field inspections* Traceability* Pest managementplan, includingmonitoring and controlPractices that reduce the favorability of the cultivated environment for snail and slugcolonization or that reduce snail and slug populations should be employed. This includesregular tilling of soil, ensuring that soil is properly drained, controlling weeds, removing cropdebris, the use of barriers, and collecting snails and slugs by hand.Snails and slugs are attracted to heavy wetsoils, especially for oviposition. Regular tillingand proper drainage render soils less attractive to snail and slug populations. Tilling may alsokill dormant snails and slugs and expose them and their eggs to natural predators. Weeds andcrop debris act as refugia for snails and slugs, and they should be removed from theplantation. Physical barriers of ash, copper, diatomaceous earth, egg shells, and sand maykeep snails and slugs away from valuable plants. Collecting snails and slugs at night by handand killing them with salt or in boiling water can successfully reduce their populations.Chemicals alone rarely provide crops with adequate protection against snail and slug pests. Apest management plan should therefore include trapping, monitoring, field inspections forsigns of infestation, and pest control as appropriate. The presence of snails and slugs can bedetected using various inexpensive and easily constructed traps, e.g. inverted flower potsbaited with grain or metaldehyde pellets, boards placed on the ground, and baited pitfalltraps. Please see cited references for details. Aluminum sulfate, copper sulfate, metaldehyde,and methiocarb are used for snail and slug control. Metaldehyde, unlike aluminum andcopper sulfate, does not affect plant growth, and is effective against most mollusks. Abiological control program may be initiated in addition to chemical control.Pirone, 1978;Coto andSaunders, 1987;Symondson, 1996;Capinera, 2001;USDA, 2010