The farm advisors are seeking funding to determine whether applying the compost for some applications and chemical fertilizer for others might be an optimal system for using the organic product. Producing apples organically requires even more vigilance and ingenuity to deal effectively with pest control, soil fertility and postharvest handling and other management challenges. The manual includes a review of the organic apple industry, supply and price, certification requirements, state and federal regulations, orchard management, disease and pest management, harvest and postharvest operations, marketing considerations and economic performance. Many of the basic agronomic practices are the same for both organic and conventional apple production systems. However, conventional growers considering the transition to organic production and certification will learn why it's important to make the shift carefully and incrementally.
Moths are a major agricultural pest because they lay eggs, the eggs hatch and they feed on the crop.
Bats' pulsing echolocation also appears to scare away harmful insect pests. This may be why researchers saw a 50 percent reduction in damage to corn plots by corn borers when they broadcast bat-like ultrasound over test plots. About 50 percent of the bat houses placed on farms are now occupied, she said. The initiative's priorities are odor and air quality, rural and urban interface, animal waste uses, water quality and animal nutrition. Meyer is California's representative on the organizing committee of the national Animal Waste Initiative.