Almond pest management team to receive major award at E...( DAVIS--A University of California t...)

DAVIS--A University of California team that developed a successful insect pest management program for almond growers, leading to significant pesticide reduction, will be honored at the Entomological Society of America (ESA) annual meeting, Nov. 16-19 in Reno.

The seven-member Almond Pest Management Alliance Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Team will receive the Entomological Foundation's "2008 Award for Excellence in IPM," on Sunday night, Nov. 16 in the Reno-Sparks Convention Center. The award is sponsored by Syngenta Crop Protection.

The team includes IPM specialist Frank Zalom, UC Davis professor of entomology and a newly selected ESA Fellow; Carolyn Pickel, UC Cooperative Extension, Sutter-Yuba counties; Walter Bentley, UC Kearney Agricultural Center, Parlier; UC Cooperative Extension farm advisors Mario Viveros, Kern County, Roger Duncan, Stanislaus County, and Joe Connell, Butte County; and scientist Barat Bisrabi, Dow AgroSciences. Both Pickel and Bentley are UC IPM advisors.

The team developed and implemented a program "that has resulted in substantial reductions of organophosphate use," said ESA spokesperson Richard Levine in announcing the award.

The annual award, Levine said, recognizes "the successful efforts of a team approach to IPM by a small collaborative group involving industry and academic scientists of no more than 10 team members."

Zalom, who directed the UC IPM Program for 16 years (1988-2001), will receive his ESA Fellow award at the same awards ceremony, as will UC Davis entomologist Michael Parrella.

The Pest Management Alliance (PMA), a partnership that included the Almond Board of California, UC Cooperative Extension, the UC IPM Program, the Department of Pesticide Regulation, the Almond Hullers and Processors Association, and Community Alliance with Family Farmers, was first launched in 1998 while Zalom was director of UC IPM.

Team members conducted a massiv
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