It’s well known now that navel orangeworm (NOW) isn’t just a pest in almonds anymore and sanitation is the key for walnut producers to help reduce next season’s NOW pressure.
Walnut growers can take advice from almond growers when it comes to NOW management. “We know now that it is becoming an increasing problem in walnuts, and so when we discuss sanitation efforts targeting almonds, really all the same rules apply for walnuts,” says Cooperative Extension Integrated Pest Management Advisor Emily Symmes.
Sanitation is the key practice, especially during a winter that produces substantial rain which will help rot the mummies. “There’s no question of should I sanitize or not. That’s the baseline, first thing that you do, and then we go in season and do our monitoring, and then do our treatments if we decide they are necessary,” Symmes says. “Number one is sanitize, sanitize, sanitize, and the more host crops we have next door to each other, the more important that becomes for everyone.”