The insects' affinity for fruit trees created a potential agricultural disaster. It reduced whitefly population densities 10,000-fold in the first two years. Insects seem to love watermelons and cantaloupes as much as the rest of us. But researchers at Purdue are helping Indiana farmers control the pests without the usual eight to 12 insecticide applications per season. The strategy centers on natural enemies of the pests.
Weather says whether.
In North Carolina, peanut farmers have trouble with leafspot, a fungus. But extension specialists have helped them learn to monitor the weather to predict when the fungus is likely to infect their crop. Wild can be vile. But weed scientists in the state have shown the benefits of increasing barley seeding rates by a third and applying a postemergence herbicide to overcome the problem. Despite its name, the corn earworm is bad news for soybean farmers, too.