A grower in the Turlock area is having success with mitigating navel orangeworm (NOW) damage. Cortez Grower Dennis Yotsuya explained his experience with the mass trapping of NOW females in a recent episode of the Almond Journey Podcast. He began the practice back in 2018. It has helped keep his NOW damage percentages minimal.
“What intrigued me was that once you put a trap out it works all the time. Whereas the people that are spraying, you had to hit these certain windows of time to be effective. So, I thought that was an interesting idea. I knew it was more advantageous to use a product like that,” Yotsuya explained. “I think the investment has paid off and right now I’m still hovering around a half-percent or less depending on the year. I’ve been pretty happy with the investment.”
The economics of the mass trapping approach appears to be working well for Yotsuya. He said that he might even be able to get by without doing anything. Yotsuya explained that his NOW damage levels had never been really high. However, he considers the approximately $70 an acre he is spending on traps and other materials as a “kind of cheap insurance.” The female NOW trapping and winter sanitation efforts have proved to be a valuable approach for Yotsuya. “The population of female moths in my orchard has dropped considerably from an average of six to maybe three or less. Which puts me in the ‘you don’t have to spray’ category,” Yotsuya noted.
The mass trapping is adequately addressing NOW pressures, however, there are additional damage concerns. Yotsuya said reviewing the breakdowns of insect damage has been informative in seeing how impactful NOW really is on his operation. “I was finding that my navel orangeworm was around a half-percent. Then the rest of it was worms and then some other miscellaneous damage; shriveled and gumming and things like that,” said Yotsuya.
You can find the latest episodes, including the one with Dennis Yotsuya, by searching “Almond Journey” wherever you get your podcasts and online at Almonds.com.
Listen to the segment below.
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