Orchard*A*Syst

Traditionally, pesticides and fertilizers have been an important part of growing high-quality tree fruit, but today growers are under increasing pressure to manage orchards in ways that reduce environmental, health and other risks. The public is concerned about the possibility of agricultural pesticides and fertilizers showing up in water samples taken from private wells, lakes and other water bodies.

Growers have faced legal problems from pesticide drift and spills. Improved pesticide and fertilizer use is viewed as an important step in protecting the health of workers, neighbors and wildlife. This publication series treats comprehensive orchard management as a three-part process of nutrient management, safe and effective pesticide use, and integrated pest management.

The following material is available in pdf format, which can be downloaded and read with Adobe Acrobat Reader. You may download and install a newer version of the program for free at:
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html

This bulletin was co-authored by the National Farm* A* Syst office, Madison, Wisconsin, and adapted for Michigan by the following people from Michigan State University: Dr. Charles Edson, Dr. Allen Krizek, Dr. Roberta Dow, David Epstein, Dr. Larry Gut, Amy Irish-Brown, Gary Thornton and Don Lehman. Also contributing were private crop consultants Doug Murray and John Bakker. An additional thanks goes to the Michigan State University Extension Fruit Area of Expertise Team, for help in identifying key Michigan issues and helping to edit the bulletin. Funding for this project was provided by a grant from the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the Michigan Groundwater Stewardship Program.

For more information on commercial production of fruit, please visit: http://www.msue.msu.edu/ipm/fruit.htm

To Orchard IPM

MSU Integrated Pest Management Program

Michigan
Groundwater
Stewardship
Program

Web page last updated by Rebecca Thompson 1/7/02