Natural Pest Management in New York High Tunnel and Greenhouse Structures

High tunnel and greenhouse vegetable production (protected culture) offer high returns and season-long market capture for Northeast vegetable farmers. Alternatives to chemical pest control are sought. Biological methods such as predatory insects, resistant varieties and microbial fungicides are needed for several reasons:

Persistence, degradation and proper rates of field pesticides in protected culture have not been well researched or documented.
A growing number of small operations that are using greenhouse and high tunnel technology depend on family labor, including children.
Unless biological methods are employed, the unique set of pests and diseases in these settings would require small-scale growers to apply highly specific, unfamiliar chemical pesticides with high cost for relatively low acreage.

This 2007 Research and Education Grant, awarded to Cornell University, studied the use of predatory insects, resistant varieties and microbial fungicides.

Want more information? See the related SARE grant(s) LNE07-262, Natural pest management in New York high tunnel and greenhouse vegetables.

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Project products are developed as part of SARE grants. They are made available with support from the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture-National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA-NIFA). Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed within project products do not necessarily reflect the view of the SARE program or the U.S. Department of Agriculture. USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.