Introduction - Scouting
From Bugwoodwiki
Author: H. C. Ellis, Extension Entomologist, University of Georgia
The term “scouting” is currently being used to indicate some form of systematic monitoring of crops. The first organized scouting or monitoring program was started on cotton insects about 1946. After gradual refinement and expansion, scouting has become an essential part of pest management programs being conducted on numerous crops. Regardless of semantics, systematic scouting or monitoring offers several advantages applicable to pecan.
The major goal of scouting is to accurately detect and estimate pest populations and their potential for damage in order to determine the need for control. Systematic monitoring allows control treatments to be timed for maximum effectiveness within the framework of overall operations. The primary purpose of scouting is not to reduce pesticide applications. However, improving timing and, consequently, the efficacy of controls is becoming increasingly important with the current situation of short residual chemicals, pest resistance and rising production costs. In addition, scouting is useful in:
- evaluating the effectiveness of control efforts;
- detecting unusual or secondary pest problems and allowing alteration of control efforts to meet special needs;
- comparing pest problems from orchard to orchard and maintaining an accurate orchard history;
- comparing populations from year to year and detecting trends helpful in planning future control strategies.
Two essentials for effective scouting are consistent monitoring techniques and workable treatment guidelines. Monitoring techniques must permit accurate estimation of pest levels. Treatment guidelines should reflect, as nearly as possible, the population levels where control treatments will yield maximum beneficial results. In Georgia, monitoring procedures and treatment guidelines for pecan have been proposed and reviewed over a period of several years. Both the sampling techniques and the treatment guidelines have proved effective and workable but will be continuously revised to provide greater precision as new information becomes available. The authors feel that growers who wish to scout their orchards can use the described methods with confidence. For more information see the article on scouting procedures and thresholds for pecan.
