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Please click here to view the proceedings of the Healthy Citrus Workshop
This was an all-day workshop (free participation) with a dozen Panelists discussing approaches to growing healthy citrus trees.
The workshop builds on the principles of biologically-based preventive Integrated Pest Management and the three factors of the pest-disease triangle—the environment, the pest, and the immune system of the trees. It reports on the latest research and practices about soil health, plant nutrition, fertility, Integrated Pest Management and biological pest control.
Overall Outline for the Day
The Agenda and information about the Panelist follow, but here are the four main parts:
7:45 – 10:00 am - IPM, the pest-disease triangle, mulch, compost and compost tea
10:15 am – 12:15 pm - soil foodweb, biological control, biostimulants, cover crops
12:45 – 2:45 pm - organic biopesticides and ant-baiting
3:00 – 5:00 pm - foliar nutrient sprays, discussion
The webinar will open at 7 am for those wanting practice using the Chat and responding to Polls before the official start time of 7:45 am.
The webinar may last until 6 pm if there is interest in optional continuing discussion after the official end time of 5:00 pm.
Continuing Education Units
If you are interested in earning Continuing Education Units for PCAs (six to eight hours), CCAs (eight hours), or ISA (pending), be sure to fully complete the Registration Form and plan to answer a quiz question for each of the four two-hour parts and a final exam.
Healthy Citrus Workshop Webinar Agenda
7:00-7:45 AM Early Log-In/Guidance Using Zoom Video Webinar
7:45-8:00 AM Jan Dietrick, MPH; Ron Whitehurst, PCA, Webinar Co-Moderators, Welcome (15 min)
8:00-8:30 AM Annemiek Schilder, PhD, Executive Director, Ventura County Cooperative Extension, Shifting the Mindset for IPM: Biology and Prevention First (30 min)
8:30-9:15 AM Gregg Young, MA, Certified Professional Agronomist and PCA Pest, Disease and Plant Nutrient Interactions in Citrus (45 min)
9:15-10:00 AM Ben Faber, PhD, UCCE Farm Adviser, Review of Mulch, Compost, and Compost Teas and Extracts for Tree Health and Water Conservation Benefits (45 min)
10:00-10:15 AM Break (15 min)
10:15-10:40 AM David White, PhD, Reducing Disease by Enhancing the Soil Food Web (25 min)
10:40-11:30 AM Jim Davis, PCA, Entomological Services Inc, San Diego County, Biological Control of Asian Citrus Psyllid and other Citrus Pests (50 min)
11:30 AM-12:00 PM Michael Collins, Chief Technical Officer, Everflux Technologies, Foliar Biostimulant Sprays to Build Tree Health Quickly (30 min)
12:00-12:45 PM Lunch Break (45 min)
12:45-1:45 PM Pam Marrone, PhD, Marrone Bio Innovations, Inc, Microbial Pesticides for Asian Citrus Psyllid (60 min)
1:45-2:15 PM Ken Kupfer, KM AntPro, LLC Ant Management with Low-Risk Borate-Based Bait to Protect Biocontrols (30 min)
2:15-2:45 PM Presenter TBA, Mixed Perennial Cover Cropping in Citrus: What Do We Know? (15 min)
2:45-3:00 PM Break (15 min)
3:00-4:15 PM Stephen Pavich, BS Viticulture, BioFlora; Srinivas Makam, Integrated Life Science Research Center, BioFlora’s Approaches to Combat HLB (75 min)
4:15-4:30 PM Panel Discussion I: ACP management (15 min)
4:30-5:00 PM Panel Discussion II: HLB management (30 min)
5:00 PM Official Close
5:00-6:00 PM Optional Add-On, Stephen Pavich, BS Viticulture, BioFlora; Srinivas Makam, Integrated Life Science Research Center, More on Trials Reversing HLB in Citrus and Discussion (flexible)
Information about Webinar Panelists (in Agenda order)
Annemiek Schilder, PhD
Director, UCCE Ventura County and Hansen Agricultural Research and Extension Center.
Topic: Shifting the Mindset for IPM: Biology and Prevention First
Phone: 805-662-6943
Email: amschilder@ucanr.edu
http://ceventura.ucanr.edu/Staff/?facultyid=39825
Annemiek Schilder completed her primary and secondary education in The Netherlands and her B.S. in Agronomy at the University of Louisiana in Lafayette, Louisiana. She studied Plant Sciences at Wageningen Agricultural University in Wageningen, the Netherlands. Subsequently, she obtained her MS and PhD degrees in Plant Pathology at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. Annemiek then moved to Nigeria, Africa, fulfilling a long-time dream to work in agricultural development and spent 3 years as a at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture researching legume and cassava diseases, seed health, and plant quarantine issues. For the next 20 years, she was an Assistant and then Associate Professor in Small Fruit Pathology at Michigan State University, investigating diagnosis, epidemiology and management of diseases of grapes and berry crops. Annemiek is particularly interested in sustainable crop production, including organic approaches.
Gregg Young, MA
Certified Professional Agronomist, Pest Control Advisor, Certified Crop Advisor Ukiah, Mendocino County, Environmental Scientist
Topic: Combating pests and disease - correlating problems with nutrient excess and deficiency
Phone: 707-485-5121
Email: gregg-young@comcast.net
www.qfirst.net
Gregg Young received his B.S. in Biological Sciences from Calif. State Polytechnic University and his M.A. in Education, Environmental Curriculum from Sonoma State University. Gregg has worked as an Agronomist and Pest Control Advisor for the last 45 years in the north coast of California and has developed Integrated Pest Management programs in tree fruits and wine grapes. Gregg has taught agriculture and pesticide safety at Mendocino College, where he is also the co-founder of Mendocino-Lake CCOF chapter. Gregg also published 2 books: A Training Manual for Soils and Fertilization in the North Coast of California and Quality First in Vineyard & Orchard Production. He is the consulting agronomist at Frog Hollow Farms, Apricot Lane Farms and select wineries, where he is presently promoting changes in mainstream fertilization practices for quality - pest & disease resistance in tree fruits & vines.
Ben Faber, PhD
UCCE Farm advisor for Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties
Specialty: Soils and water, avocados and minor subtropicals in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties.
Topic: Mulch, compost, and compost tea for fertility, water management, biocontrol
Phone: 805-645-1462
Email: bafaber@ucanr.edu
http://ceventura.ucanr.edu/Com_Ag/Subtropical/
Ben Faber received his Ph.D. in soil fertility and M.S. in pomology from University of California, Davis in 1989. Ben is the soils/water/subtropical crops advisor for Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties. His primary crop involvements are avocado and citrus, but other subtropical and deciduous crops are also covered, such as litchi, longan, blueberries, cherimoya and passion fruit. He is currently evaluating various subtropical tree varieties for their economic viability in coastal environments. He also studies soil and water quality issues, such as erosion management, salinity management, orchard floor management, and irrigation scheduling and fertility management.
David White, PhD
Topic: Reducing disease by enhancing the soil food web
David White has a B.Sc. in Biological Sciences and a Ph.D. in Cell Biology from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. He has worked with numerous environmental groups in Ventura County over the past thirty years including the Keep the Sespe Wild Committee, Food for Thought Ojai and the Ojai Valley Green Coalition. In addition to being the cofounder and Executive Director of the Center for Regenerative Agriculture David is also the Director of the Ventura Land Trust’s "Once upon a Watershed" education program, active at eleven schools in the Ventura River Watershed. One of his favorite things to do is to plant trees with kids.
Jim Davis, PCA
Pest Control Advisor for San Diego and Riverside County, partner in Entomological Services, Inc.,
Topic: Biological controls for Asian citrus psyllid and other citrus pests
Phone: 760-747-2920 or Phone: 559 627-1153
Email: jim.davis@esi-consulting.com or Email: citrusIPM@gmail.com
Jim Davis received his Bachelor Degree in Biology from Oberlin College, in Ohio. Upon graduating from the Masters Program in Agricultural Pest Management at the University of California, Riverside in 1984, Jim worked for the USDA-ARS Boyden Lab on the UCR Campus, where he was introduced to insect mass-rearing. This experience led him to be hired to run the Corona division of Foothill Ag Research, Inc., a commercial insectary. In 1990, Jim began his own company, American Insectaries and for 25 years he provided consulting services for over 2500 acres of avocado and citrus, as well as supplying beneficial insects to growers and homeowners for pest control. In 2016, Jim merged his company into Entomological Services, Inc.
Jim is on the California Avocado Commission’s Production Research Committee, which oversees the commission’s grants for scientific research. Jim’s professional focus has been concentrated on the use of beneficial insects and designing IPM programs, which has lead to experience in citrus, avocados, vegetables, cut flowers, turf, ornamentals, and nursery production. The ESI team can bring together plant nutrition, disease prevention, weed and pest management into an efficient IPM program.
Michael Collins
Chief Technical Officer, EverFlux Technologies, Scientist, Permaculturist, Agronomist, Inventor, Farmer, Architectural Innovator
Topic: Foliar biostimulant sprays to build tree health quickly
Phone: 510-872-3533
Email: michael@everflux.tech
Email: Biotect@sonic.net
Michael Collins has experience with many crops through worldwide agricultural work. He has a rich history problem solving farming organic for 29 years has grown over 210 different crops and created various fertility regimes that bridge them all and maintain health and abundant growth through non-toxic methods. Michael has taught many courses in permaculture and green building and has built his own laboratory for sustainable idea creation in Mexico. Also an artist and designer, he seeks inspiration from nature and indigenous cultures to shatter the envelope of the possible, creating delightful and mind-expanding works of functional art. Over the past 25 years his designs have found homes in a variety of settings, ranging from organic vineyards and hotel landscapes to premier residences throughout the west coast and Mexico. Michael’s present work is with using materials that go beyond concrete-geopolymers, nature’s way of binding rocks, and most important to him is putting the art back into living.
Pam Marrone, PhD
CEO/Founder Marrone Bio Innovations, Inc. (MBI)
Topic: Microbial pesticides for Asian citrus psyllid
Phone: 530-750-2800, ext. 200
Email: pmarrone@marronebio.com
https://marronebioinnovations.com
Pamela Marrone received her PhD in Entomology from North Carolina State University in 1983. She leads the industry in the development of products for sustainable and organic agriculture. She first founded Agraquest and then in 2006 she founded Marrone Bio Innovations, developing and marketing bio-based products for pest management and plant health. Among them is Grandevo with several active compounds that repel, stop the feeding, reduce reproduction and induce mortality of sucking and chewing insects and mites, including Asian citrus psyllid. Pam is currently stepping down as CEO of Marrone Bio Innovations to launch a new project. She serves on the Board of the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research, Associated Women in Science, and is a Trustee of Cornell University where she studied Entomology.
Ken Kupfer
Owner of KM AntPro LLC, co-inventor of Ant Pro (patented and other patents pending), pest management inspector
Topic: Ant management with low-risk borate based bait to protect biocontrols
Phone: 941-445-4252
Email: kjkupf@comcast.net
www.kmantpro.com
Ken Kupfer is an experienced pest management inspector who endeavors to understand the science of insect species management, and is willing and able to help you with your ant control or other insect control problems.
The technology involved in the Ant Pro's patented, weather-tolerant, continuous gravity-feed, delivery platform makes it a prime candidate for the environment-friendly use in the horizontal transfer of biological pathogens and other low-toxicity, insect control products to control a wide range of crawling, walking and flying insects.
That is, the targeted insects are attracted to a self-contained dispensing system, contaminated with an active ingredient, and after leaving the system, transfer this active ingredient to targeted problem insects that they feed, mate or otherwise come in contact with, and as a consequence exponentially eliminate the total insect infestations.
David Morgan, PhD
California Department of Food and Agriculture Environmental Program Manager
Topic: Biological control of ACP, the urban experience
Phone: 951-328-2642
Email: david.morgan@cdfa.ca.gov
https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/plant/
David received his PhD in Entomology from Imperial College of London in 1994 and did post doctoral research at the University of California at Riverside. He has been a biological control specialist with the California Department of Food and Agriculture for 20 years. His group is responsible for the production, release, and evaluation of biological control agents for the suppression of insect pests in California. They have production facilities in Riverside, Los Angeles, and Kern Counties. He also supervises staff who monitor for pests, regulate nursery shipments from Southern California, and identify pest species.
Stephen P. Pavich
Senior Plant Nutritionist, Bioflora
Topic: Foliar nutrient sprays to reverse HLB disease - results of University trials (co-presenting with Srinivas Makam)
Phone: 623-932-1522
Phone: 623-932-3533
Email: spavich@bioflora.com
Stephen Pavich completed study of Plant Science (Viticulture) at CSU Fresno in 1972. He began farming grapes in 1971 and developed an intensive program of soil building with biological fertilizers and cover crops, beneficial insect habitat enhancement, and biological pest control. He quickly converted conventional vineyards to 4700 acres of organic becoming the largest organic grape grower in the U.S. He has worked with The Global Organics Group as Senior Plant Nutritionist since 2008, consulting with growers in North and South America. Steve represents the BioFlora line designed to improve nutrient uptake, growth, and market value of plants and recover soil friability and fertility via increased microbial diversity with an emphasis on increasing disease resistance in plants and suppressing established pathogens. Last November BioFlora announced a breakthrough treatment for citrus greening that shows that trees infected with HLB can live without negative effects.
Srinivas Makam, PhD
Molecular and Microbiology Researcher, Integrated Life Science Research Center®
Topic: Foliar nutrient sprays to reverse HLB disease - results of University trials (co-presenting with Stephen Pavich)
Dr. Srinivas Makam joined Integrated Life Science Research Center®, the science division at BioFlora®, to guide the company towards agricultural biology, ecology and genomics innovations. Dr. Makam is a seasoned scientist with over 22 years of research experience in Molecular Plant Physiology, Biochemistry, Microbiology and Genomics. With the launch of the Land-to-Lab Program, Dr. Makam has focused on a variety of crops including grapes, berries, stone fruits, row crops, and citrus. He continues to work on citrus tree health and nutrition with a special emphasis on HLB/citrus greening. He has also been an author in over 10 scientific publications and published abstracts in peer reviewed scientific journals focused on plant growth, development and hormonal physiology.
CO-MODERATED BY
Jan Dietrick, MPH, and Ron Whitehurst, PCA
Co-Owners of Rincon-Vitova Insectaries, Inc., Ventura, CA
Co-Moderated by Jan Dietrick, MPH, and Ron Whitehurst, PCA
Owners, Rincon-Vitova Insectaries, Inc, Ventura, CA
Jan is daughter of pioneering insect ecologist Everett J. “Deke” Dietrick and has been carrying forward his work since 1990. She founded and directs the Dietrick Institute for Applied Insect Ecology to promote biological control by natural enemies that starts at the root zone of plants. She has presented at numerous farmer meetings. She received her Masters in Public Health from University of Texas with an emphasis in human ecology and nutrition. She is developing a demonstration project to evaluate carbon sequestration from diverse communities of perennial cover crops.
Ron, a California Licensed Pest Control Advisor, with his wife Jan leads a team producing and marketing biological pest control supplies. Their company received the Global Regenerative Business Prize in 2016. Besides guiding people to create and manage ecosystem to minimize pests through “Deke’s Five Features” of ecologically based pest management: habitat enhancement, cultural methods, soft pesticides and beneficial organisms based on sound monitoring, he assembled a database about weeds as soil indicators and is an avid permaculture practitioner.
Sponsored by the Dietrick Institute for Applied Insect Ecology (501-c-3)
Webinar Coordinatiion Email: bugfarm@rinconvitova.com,
Mobile 805-746-5368; office 805-643-5407