North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Lon J. Rombough" <lonrom@hevanet.com>]

This item is one of the news releases and story leads that ARS Information
distributes on weekdays to fax and e-mail subscribers. You can also get the
latest ARS news on the World Wide Web at
www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm.
* Feedback and questions to ARS News Service via e-mail: isnv@ars-grin.gov.
* ARS Information Staff, 5601 Sunnyside Ave., Room 1-2251, Beltsville MD
20705-5128, (301) 504- 1617, fax (301) 504-1648.
----------
From: "ARS News Service" <isnv@ars-grin.gov>
To: "ARS News List" <ars-news@ars-grin.gov>
Subject: Mineral Coating Could Cut Chemical Use 
Date: Wed, Nov 1, 2000, 6:41 AM


NEWS RELEASE:
Mineral Coating Could Cut Chemical Use in Agriculture

___________________________________________

ARS News Service
Agricultural Research Service, USDA
Judy McBride, (301) 504-1628, jmcbride@ars.usda.gov
November 1, 2000
___________________________________________


KEARNEYSVILLE, W.Va., Nov. 1--Tomorrow's orchards and vineyards--even row
crops--may have a ghostly appearance, based on studies spearheaded by
Agricultural Research Service scientists.

Researchers at ARS's Appalachian Fruit Research Station in Kearneysville, W.
Va., and collaborators have controlled insects and diseases and prevented
sunburn and heat stress by covering fruit trees, vines or vegetable crops
with a white, reflective coating of a specially processed kaolin--a type of
clay.

"Cooperative research and development between ARS and Engelhard Corporation
of Iselin, N.J., is producing kaolin-based products that could turn out to
be among the most versatile agricultural products ever to hit the market,"
said ARS administrator Floyd P. Horn. The agency is the U.S. Department of
Agriculture's chief research arm.

And uses for kaolin films don't end here, according to ARS soil scientist
Michael Glenn who conceived of many of their agricultural applications and
initiated the cooperation with Engelhard. He and coinventor Gary Puterka see
kaolin's potential as a carrier for just about any chemical used on the
farm--pesticide, herbicide or pheromone.

"It can serve as a matrix to hold chemicals on the plant or soil and get
more even distribution," said Puterka, an entomologist. "You may be able to
reduce the active ingredient by 50 percent or more." The latest patent
application jointly filed by ARS and Engelhard covers this use of kaolin.

The first commercial product--Surround Crop Protectant--went on the market
in 1999 after pear growers learned that it controlled pear psylla, a
devastating insect that is becoming pesticide resistant. This year,
Engelhard upgraded it to a wetable powder formulation called Surround WP.

Since kaolin is a physical barrier, it must be reapplied to cover new growth
or after a heavy rain, which limits its feasibility in rainy areas.

However, the severe mid-Atlantic drought of 1999 proved another advantage of
the kaolin film in orchards. Treated Empire trees produced apples averaging
17 percent larger than fruit from untreated trees--even trees that were
irrigated, said Glenn. And there was no loss in number of fruit. Sekel pears
reacted a little differently: Film- covered trees doubled the number of
fruit with no loss in fruit size.

Glenn explained that the specially processed kaolin coat reflects the
heating infrared wavelengths, as well as the burning ultraviolet rays. It's
the ability to keep the tree cooler under a blazing sun that increases
yield.

On the West Coast, kaolin film prevented sunburn on apples and walnuts,
Glenn added. Sunburn damage makes a perfect niche for rot organisms. So
packers pay bottom dollar for produce with blemished skin or shells, or
reject it altogether. In studies here and in South America, South Africa,
and Australia/New Zealand--"the kaolin- based product has cut sunburn damage
on apples in half, on average," Glenn said.

 Around the country, kaolin film has controlled well over a dozen species of
insects and mites. Studies to evaluate it against the glassywing
sharpshooter in California vineyards are in progress, and results so far
look encouraging. According to Puterka, the specially formulated kaolin
particles "have the potential to work against almost any insect. The key is
getting good coverage of the crop."

And with some changes in formulation, Glenn and Kearneysville colleague
Michael Wisniewski are demonstrating that the films have potential to
control diseases in orchards or keep vegetable crops viable several degrees
below their normal threshold for frost damage.

Read more about kaolin's agricultural applications in the November issue of
Agricultural Research magazine at:
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/nov00/white1100.htm

_________________________________________

Scientific contacts: Michael Glenn and Gary Puterka, ARS Appalachian Fruit
Research Station, Kearneysville, W.Va., phone (304) 725-3451, ext. 321
[Glenn], ext. 361 [Puterka], fax (304) 728-2340, mglenn@afrs.ars.usda.gov,
gputerka@afrs.ars.usda.gov.
___________________________________________
This item is one of the news releases and story leads that ARS Information
distributes on weekdays to fax and e-mail subscribers. You can also get the
latest ARS news on the World Wide Web at
www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm.
* Feedback and questions to ARS News Service via e-mail: isnv@ars-grin.gov.
* ARS Information Staff, 5601 Sunnyside Ave., Room 1-2251, Beltsville MD
20705-5128, (301) 504- 1617, fax (301) 504-1648.




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