Pest Management Guidelines - TreeFruits
Pest Management Guidelines
A Cornell Cooperative Extension Publication

  
Cornell Guide for Pest Management of TreeFruits

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Contents

Use Pesticides Safely. 1

Protect Honey Bees from Insecticides. 1

Pesticide Control Legislation. 1

Restricted Pesticides. 1

Pesticide Product Registration Information for New York State. 1

Verifying Pesticide Registration and Restricted-Use Status. 1

Applicator Certification. 1

Pesticide Recordkeeping/Reporting. 2

New York State Requirements. 2

Federal Private Applicator Recordkeeping Requirements. 2

EPA Worker Protection Standard (WPS) for Agricultural Pesticides. 2

The Neighbor Notification Law. 2

Reduced-Risk Pesticides, Minimum-Risk Pesticides, and Biopesticides. 3

FIFRA 2(ee) Recommendations. 4

 

Use Pesticides Safely

All pesticides are regulated by state and federal laws to protect the user and consumer. Read labels carefully. Follow instructions.

 

Most pesticides are poisonous to humans and animals, but when properly used they are not harmful. Handle them with care. Store them in closed, plainly labeled original containers, out of the reach of children and animals. Keep pesticides in locked storage facilities.

 

When handling, do not allow pesticides to come in contact with the skin. Do not apply on a windy day. Do not smoke while handling pesticides. Do not inhale dusts, sprays, or vapors. After handling pesticides, wash hands and face before eating or smoking.

To avoid accidental injury to susceptible plants, avoid drift of sprays and dusts. Use separate equipment for applying hormone-type herbicides such as 2,4-D.

 

Dispose of empty containers so that children cannot play with them.

 

Please refer to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) publication “Part 325, Rules and Regulations Relating to the Application of Pesticides” for further information relating to the use of pesticides in New York State.

 

Protect Honey Bees from Insecticides

Honey bees, wild bees, and other insects are important for proper pollination of many vegetables. Vine crops, for example, must be pollinated because they have male and female flowers, and pollen must be transferred from the male to female flowers if fruit is to set. Poor pollination results in small or odd-shaped fruit as well as low yields. Each flower must be visited eight or more times for adequate pollination to occur.

 

To avoid harming bees with insecticide treatments, remember these points: do not spray crops in bloom; mow blooming weeds before treatment or spray when the blossoms are closed; avoid application during the time of day when field bees are most numerous; make application in the early morning or evening; and always read the label before use.

 

If pesticides that are highly toxic to bees are used in strict accordance with label directions, little or no harm should be done to bees. Label statements on pesticides that are highly toxic to honey bees may carry a caution statement such as the following: “This product is highly toxic to bees exposed to direct treatment or residues on crops or weeds. Do not apply or allow to drift to weeds in bloom on which an economically significant number of bees are actively foraging. Protective information can be obtained from your Cooperative Extension Service.”

 

Pesticide Control Legislation

Restricted Pesticides

In accordance with New York State legislation, pesticides that are highly toxic or that are persistent and accumulative are placed on a restricted-use list and may be sold to and used only by certified applicators. “Restricted-use pesticide” or “restricted pesticide” means any pesticide: listed in Section 326.2 of Part 326 of the NYSDEC regulations, that meets the criteria of Environmental Conservation Law Section 33-0101(42), or whose labeling bears the statement “Restricted-Use Pesticide.” Restricted-use pesticides recommended in this publication are identified by (*). Pesticide products that cannot be used on Long Island, New York (Nassau and Suffolk Counties) are identified by (†).The following criteria and designations (A through H) refer to those pesticides restricted for use, sale, purchase, or distribution in New York State as noted within Part 326.2:

 

A: May be distributed, sold, purchased, possessed, and used only upon issuance of a commercial or purchase permit for any uses listed on the approved label as registered with the NYSDEC.

 

B: May be distributed, sold, purchased, possessed, or used only upon issuance of a commercial permit or purchase permit for those purposes listed in “Part 326 Registration and Classification of Pesticides,” a publication of the NYSDEC.

 

C: The commissioner of the NYSDEC may place any conditions on the registration of any product that are deemed necessary to prevent damage to health, property and wildlife.  Classification as ‘restricted-use’ may be necessary.  See Part 326.23 (e).

 

E: Federally restricted pesticides per EPA.

 

G: Any product whose label limits use to commercial pesticide applicators only may be distributed, sold, purchased, possessed, and used only upon issuance of a commercial permit or certification identification card. Label statements that limit use to commercial pesticide applicators include but are not limited to the following: (1) Only for sale to and use and storage by commercial pest control operators. (2) To be applied only by or under the direct supervision of commercial applicators responsible for insect control program.

 

H: Any pesticide labeled for direction application to or in surface waters may be distributed, offered for sale, sold, purchased, possessed, or used only by the holder of a valid commercial permit, verification identification card, or purchase permit.

 

Pesticide Product Registration Information for New York State

Cornell University and the NYSDEC provide access to several databases that allow for retrieval of pesticide information, including product registrations and pesticide label images pertinent to New York State. Current New York State product registrations and label images can be accessed from http://pmep.cce.cornell.edu/pims/. For more information regarding these databases, please contact the Pesticide Sales and Use Reporting Database Group at 607-257-5706 or PMEP_webmaster@cornell.edu.

 

Verifying Pesticide Registration and Restricted-Use Status

Any pesticide used in New York State must be currently registered with the NYSDEC and the USEPA. Applicators can easily verify whether pesticides are currently registered and classified as restricted-use in New York State if they have access to the Internet. Cornell maintains a web site (http://pmep.cce.cornell.edu/pims/) where NYSDEC approved labels, EPA numbers, or active ingredients can be searched. The NYSDEC also maintains a web site (http://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/27354.html) from which user