Colorado Potato Beetle in the Columbia Basin

Transcript

Hi, everyone. My name is Pahoua Yang, I'm a master's student here at Oregon State University in the crop and soil science department. My research here is based at Hermiston Agricultural Research and Extension Center. I work closely with Dr. Silvia Rondon, extension entomologist specialist here.

Our work focuses on the Colorado Potato Beetle one of the most important pests in potatoes worldwide. Overview Here in the Columbia Basin of northeastern Oregon and southeastern Washington is the heart of potato production. In this region, we produce one of the highest yields in the world.

Control The CPB is a vicious insect pest that the adult and larvae can cause complete defoliation if left uncontrolled. Depending on the time of infestation the CPB can cause yield reduction and, therefore, economic loss. The main control for CPB is pesticides. Unfortunately, this insect is famous for developing resistance to insecticides.

What is resistant? When we create a superbug that cannot be controlled by pesticides. Numerous reports of resistant come from the eastern part of the United States. However, there are no confirmed reports here in the West. [MUSIC PLAYING] Objectives Our study consists of three main objectives. One is to develop baseline information to determine how CPB respond to pesticide.

The second objective is to evaluate the effectiveness of the use of insecticide at planting and controlling CPB. [MUSIC PLAYING] And our last objective is just to evaluate if pesticide at planting will affect any non-target natural enemies. Conclusion Biological control is one of the cornerstones of integrated pest management programs. Natural enemies are the silent partners in the field that do diligently work sometimes without us noticing them. Our data is already shows that there is a good complex of benefits that contributes to the natural control of CPB, like the parasitoid fly or even birds. I believe that our work would be a great contribution that would improve our understanding of our target potato pest -- the Colorado Potato Beetle.

Oregon State University Crop and Soil Science Masters student Pahoua Yang focuses her research project on Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata. Her project is to determine baseline information for several commercial insecticides. This includes a brief background of the importance of CPB and basic biology. Her work includes bioassays, field studies results, and future implications of her study. She is doing her research at Hermiston Agricultural Research and Extension Center.

Catalog - EM 9258

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