Cherry Pesticide Study

Cherry Pesticide Study. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Fruit Grower Report.

The Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission has released their 2015 Cherry Pesticide Residue Study to provide the Northwest cherry industry basic information about residues of commonly used pesticides. The Ag Networks KayDee Gilkey has more.

GILKEY: The 2015 report includes results for 31 commonly used active ingredients found in 18 insecticides/acaricides and 11 fungicides, as well as the influence of two popular rain protectants on residue persistence. This study simulates a worst case scenario for residues of legally applied pesticides with and without protective rain coatings, using very aggressive rates, timings, and spray intervals.Most materials were applied twice as allowed by product labels, whether or not commercial use patterns would do the same. With that approach, all residues complied comfortably with domestic tolerances; some, however, exceeded some foreign tolerances, whether from published MRLs or national default values.

Thanks KayDee. As these studies have routinely demonstrated since 2011, application of pesticides according to label directions consistently produces residues safely below tolerance levels set by the US Evironmental Protection Agency. If you want to see the full report you can find it at http://www.treefruitresearch.com.

That’s today’s Fruit Grower Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network of the West.