Meeting the Challenges of the 21st Century

Making Satsuma's Safer the Environmentally Friendly Way

A pest-management research project launched in 2004 and aimed at reducing the use of toxic chemicals in Alabama's emerging Satsuma industry already has some producers significantly cutting their pesticide applications.

In the first phase of the project, Henry Fadamiro, AAES entomologist at Auburn, and Monte Nesbitt, research associate at the Gulf Coast Research and Extension Center in Fairhope, identified the major insect pests that attack Alabama Satsumas and then trained growers to scout for those pests and apply pesticides only when pests are present instead of spraying regularly merely as a preventive measure.

The researchers also are focusing on identifying beneficial insects common in Alabama groves and how to increase their populations as a means of natural pest control. And on still another front, the scientists have evaluated several reduced-risk pesticides, such as petroleum-based horticultural oils, and have found them effective in controlling the pests while having limited effects on beneficials. They’re now seeking to get these
products registered for use on citrus crops in Alabama.

Since 2005, about half of the state’s Satsumas have gone to Alabama youngsters through the Farm-to-School lunch program. Fadamiro’s project will make the fruit safer for consumers while reducing pesticides in the environment and saving growers money.