<p>There is an existing conflict
thrust upon U.S. food production systems; optimize crop yield to provide
sustenance to a growing population while minimizing ecological impacts of
high-intensity agriculture. This balancing act is experienced by Indiana’s
watermelon growers who must maintain marketability of a crop that is reliant on
insect pollinators. The dependence on pollinators to produce yield means that
growers have to consider the negative impacts pesticide applications may have
on both the desired pest and non-target pollinators. Navigating these
trade-offs must be considered not just in the watermelon fields, but the
surrounding agricultural landscape that has become increasingly reliant on
prophylactic insecticides to control pests. This dissertation work results from
an intensive set of experiments replicating grower practices in experimental fields
throughout Indiana to assess the relationships of pests, pollinators, and crop
yield.</p>
Beginning with a priming year in 2017, watermelon
plots were planted within larger corn
fields to replicate the agriculture landscape and provide a “snapshot” of
typical environment. These plots were paired at multiple locations and provided
a contrast between a conventional management system that replicates grower
insecticide programs with an IPM approach that removes insecticide applications
outside of those based on scouting recommendations. I found that, while pest
abundance and damage was higher in IPM fields, the increased pollinator visits
in IPM fields led to higher yields in watermelons while corn yield was
unaffected by an absence of insecticide use. Managed pollinator hives were
placed in these fields and IPM resulted in the colonies exhibiting greater
weight gain, lower mortality, increased reproductive growth, and higher insecticide
residue accumulation. Insecticide residues were found more frequently at higher
levels in the leaf tissue, crop pollen, field soil, and honey bee-collected
pollen taken from CM fields. Despite these findings, there was a variable
effect of the surrounding land use on the quality of collected pollen or the
insecticides gathered by pollinators. These experiments demonstrate that IPM is
a viable set of practices for specialty crop growers in the Midwest;
successfully monitoring insect pests and conserving pollination services from
both managed and wild pollinators. These findings provide a comprehensive look
at the effect of IPM practices not just on the a specialty crop, but to the
surrounding agricultural landscape as well. An IPM approach can be implemented
by growers to decrease non-target effects from insecticides while maintaining
or even improving productivity and profitability.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:purdue.edu/oai:figshare.com:article/17136500 |
| Date | 19 December 2021 |
| Creators | Jacob R Pecenka (11797601) |
| Source Sets | Purdue University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis |
| Rights | CC BY 4.0 |
| Relation | https://figshare.com/articles/thesis/IPM_in_Midwestern_Agriculture_Implications_to_Pests_Pollinators_and_Yield/17136500 |
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