Pest Monitoring Program Provides Big Benefit to East Georgia Growers

Summary

The peanut burrower bug (PBB) causes significant economic losses on an annual basis in Georgia. The insect became a serious pest in 2010, and there are few effective management tactics. Choices for reducing risk of PBB injury are deep tillage and/or applying the organophosphate insecticide chlorpyrifos. These practices are expensive, can negatively affect the environment, and have been used without an accurate method to assess actual risk of infestation or injury. A PBB monitoring program implemented in east GA has resulted in significant reduction in losses while informing insecticide management decisions.

Situation

Peanut burrower bug feeding injury reduces the value of harvested peanut by more than $300 per ton at injury rates of 3.5% or higher. The insect lives in the soil and feeds directly on developing seeds within pods. PBB feeding has limited impact on yield, and the injury is only visible after the peanuts are shelled and the seed coat (testa) is removed. Damage to peanut is sporadic; nevertheless, consistent, severe losses have been observed in several areas of the state. Currently only two tactics are available for managing PBB in peanut. Deep tillage prior to planting reduces the risk of injury, and applications of granular chlorpyrifos mid-season can lower pest populations and prevent losses. Both management practices are costly, neither are fool-proof, and growers had no way to accurately assess the risk of losses. Fields in areas where PBB injury occurred in previous years are at high risk. With no monitoring tool, some growers chose to applied insecticide while others simply “rolled the dice” and hoped they would avoid infestations. Georgia peanut producers needed an accurate method to assess the risk of loss to PBB to inform insecticide application decisions.

Response

The UGA Peanut Entomology Program and county agents in Emanuel and Brooks Counties collaborated on a multifaceted PBB research and Extension project focused on improving our understanding of the insect’s biology and reducing losses through better management. Emanuel County Extension Agent Mark Crosby initiated a preliminary monitoring program using pit-fall traps in 2016. This relatively small-scale effort continued in 2017 and 2018. Though no validated thresholds existed, UGA Extension faculty used trap data to help growers make insecticide management decisions. Fields with few or no bugs were not treated, but those where high numbers of bugs were captured were treated with granular chlorpyrifos. The preliminary sampling work was discussed at grower meetings, and in 2019 the local peanut buying point employed Mark Crosby to use the UGA pitfall trapping technique to monitor for PBB and provide guidance to growers on management decisions. Mark and Emanuel County Extension Agent Savannah Tanner monitored over 13,000 peanut acres in at least six counties in 2019 and 2020.

Impact

Since its initiation in 2016, we estimate the success rate of the PBB monitoring program to be greater than 90%. In 2020, more than 1200 traps were deployed on over 8,000 acres, and there were no reductions in grade due to PBB in any of the monitored fields. Peanut burrower bug monitoring has been widely adopted. The results of the program have far exceeded expectations, and the savings to growers have been significant. Unnecessary insecticide applications have been avoided, and losses due to PBB injury have been reduced significantly. Over the previous two seasons, growers in the program treated 1,100 acres with granular chlorpyrifos in response to trapping data. The estimated return on this investment alone is over $650,000 in preserved crop quality.

State Issue

Plant Production

Details

• Year: 2020
• Geographic Scope: Multi-County
• County: Emanuel
• Location: College Station, Athens
• Program Areas:
  • Agriculture & Natural Resources