North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Alan Haigh" <alandhaigh@gmail.com>]

OK, well I guess the general consensus is that we all are actually mature enough to carry on a civil discussion of a controversal subject.  I have thus far spoken in generalities about the possibility that using a man-made chemical can actually be good for the environment now I'd like to explain a real life example occuring in my business.

 

I have a bearing age fruit tree nursery in southeastern NY and the peach trees I grow used to be seriously stunted by oriental fruit moth.  I leave a lot of my land pretty wild and seem to have created a wonderful home for all manner of fruit pests as well as beneficials.  I don't think mother nature bothers to balance them out to my benefit.

 

A few years ago I began using something called Last Call, a Permethrin based pheremone bait that you apply a few drops to a scattering of trees to control OFM in an orchard.  Instead of spraying whole trees and killing a lot of untargeted pests, which BT would do, this product draws the specific pest to the poison.

 

My OFM problem dissapeared overnight and my peach trees are ready to sell in half the time.  This means that I don't have to cut down more of my forest to grow the same amount of trees which is what I'd do because I wouldn't have time to control this pest with BT anyway.

 

This isn't an issue I take lightly, I've pulled my living out of the soil for most of the  last 40 years.  I'm not just speaking theoretically and I don't poison life carelessly.  I could provide you with another dozen real life examples similar to this one where the best environmental outcome does not necessarily come through "organic" methods.