Page 16 - Griffin Gazette Spring 2017

Keeping By Tami Van Gaal, CEA Division Leader
it Clean
Best Practices to Avoid Introducing Pests on Incoming
SANITATION FOR CEA CROPS Plant Material and People
Avoid piggybacking pests by controlling two significant sources:
Bonus Digital Content incoming plant material and people. All incoming plant material
should be isolated and intensively scouted for any signs or
symptoms of disease, insect and mite pests. Even after scouting,
avoid growing newly received plant material with older crops
whenever possible. If new crops and older crops must be grown
side by side, delay bringing new crops into the existing space until
all symptoms of pests can be explained and/or treated. Remember
that it’s much easier to treat a condensed group of young plants
than a group of mature plants over a larger space.

Pay attention to product labels and state and local laws when
making product choices. Go in with your best solution; this
is not the time for second-tier products. If you rely on BCAs
for pest control, all incoming plant material should be given
an innundative treatment for your most common insect/mite
problems. For example, if you have concerns about spider mites,
then make a heavy release of Phytoseiulus persimilis. Remember
to review the spray history on the incoming crop to understand
BCA compatibility.

To limit pests traveling into your facility on staff and visitors, start
your efforts at the front door. Consider having staff change from
outside footwear to inside footwear before entering the production
space. All visitors should be required to wear disposable booties
and lab coats or suits that are disposed or laundered after each
use. If you use also use foot baths as an exclusionary tactic, be sure
to change the solutions frequently (as much as several times per
day). Oxidizers, such as ZeroTol 2.0, can be effective and are more
user-friendly than bleach. However, the level of active ingredient
needs to be monitored and maintained. Once the level drops
too low, the pests are not neutralized. If this happens, it’s easy
to understand how the footbaths serve as a source of inoculant
instead of a protective shield.

Best Practices to Avoid Spreading Pests
During Production
Even with strong efforts to minimize pests gaining access to your
facility, problems can pop up in production. Once that happens,
combine your crop protection strategies with some simple
sanitation efforts to prevent the problem from spreading.

First, make it a policy to keep doors to your production spaces
closed at all times. Open doors create strong air currents that can
quickly spread insects, mite and pathogens through a facility.

Next, keep a large supply of disposable gloves on hand. For other
activities where the risk of pest spread is higher (propagation or
planting), glove changes should occur frequently, such as by the
row, variety or specific amount of time. For activities with lower risk
of pest spread, glove changes can occur a less frequently.

Then, consider having all staff wear suits, coats or aprons when
working with the crops, especially in areas of infection or infestation.
Change these items at regular intervals (at break time or between
production spaces). Lastly, make it easy to support good practices
by placing garbage cans and laundry hampers where you want the
changes to occur.

The most diligent management strategy also considers how staff
moves between production spaces. Avoid visiting an infected or
infested space early in the day, then working in other spaces later
in the day. Instead, whenever possible, work clean spaces early or
assign specific staff to work only in the infested areas.