Strawberry Crop stage-wise IPM

Pre planting

Common cultural practices:

• Timely planting should be done.
• Orchard sanitation, roguing
• Destroy the alternate host plants and weeds.
• Apply manures and fertilizers as per soil test recommendations.
• Grow the attractant, repellent, and trap crops around the orchard bunds.
• Growing tomato or marigold as a trap crop for the management of leaf miner
• Plant tall border crops like maize, sorghum for the management of mites and thrips.
• Crop Rotation with non-host crops

• Apply 10 to 20 tonnes/ acre farmyard manure/ vermicomposting at the time of orchard preparation

• The soil is ploughed during summer with a soil turning plough

Biological control:

• Apply neem cake/pongamia cake @ 100 Kg/acre or press mud @ 2 t /acre in soil at the time of last ploughing for reducing nematodes and soil dwelling pests.

Planting

• Apply fertilizers based on the soil test report and recommendation for particular zone. Generally, 30-40 kg. N, 16-48 kg. P₂O₅ and 16-32 kg. K₂O/ acre may be applied according to soil type and variety planted.
• Full dose of phosphorus and half dose of potash is given at the time of planting by placing the fertilizer at a depth of 15 cm between the rows.

• The orchard is kept weed-free at the time of planting by harrowing and ploughing. Intercultural practices continued till the straw / plastic mulch is applied.

Cultural control:

• Use tolerant /resistant varieties
• Avoid overlapping planting
• Drip irrigation/judicious irrigation.

Bud and pre-bloom

• Nitrogen is applied in two equal doses. First dose is given one month after planting and second dose is given at the time of flowering. Remaining half of potash is given at the time of flowering. Four Foliar applications of liquid fertilizers (containing 0.5% N, 0.2 % P₂O₅ and 0.5 % K₂O) during August to February are also recommended for all strawberry growing areas.

• The orchard is kept weed-free by machine tool weeding or hoeing.
• Use straw or plastic mulch to suppress the weeds between the rows.

Cultural control:

• Regular orchard scouting be conducted.
• Control weeds in and around the orchard.

Biological control:

• Conduct surveys for conservation of natural enemies (predators) like ladybird beetle, green lace wings, phytoseiid mite, Syrphid and observe P.D. ratio.
• Release ladybird beetle, green lace wings @ 2/plant

Cultural control:

• Orchard scouting and vigilance regularly

Mechanical control:

• Clip off infested foliage and plant materials and destroy

Mechanical control:

• Remove and burn trash from the previous crop.
• Avoid overhead irrigation.

Cultural control:

• Strawberries should not be planted in fields where red stele has occurred.
• Use only certified and resistant plants and select well-drained sites for strawberries.

Cultural control:

• Use certified plants.
• Avoid poorly drained sites.
• Rotate planting sites and fumigate

Cultural control:

• Fumigation of soil
• Soil solariziation
• Crop rotation with non-host crops
• Wash all soil from plant crowns prior to planting
• Weed around plants regularly
• Plant only disease free transplants
• Do not use excessive amounts of nitrogen fertilizer

Cultural control:

• Use only certified planting stock

• Crop rotation and avoid overhead irrigation

Bloom

• Nitrogen is applied in two equal doses. First dose is given one month after planting and second dose is given at the time of flowering. Remaining half of potash is given at the time of flowering. Four Foliar applications of liquid fertilizers (containing 0.5% N, 0.2 % P₂O₅ and 0.5 % K₂O) during August to February is also recommended for all strawberry growing areas

• The orchard is kept weed-free by machine tool weeding or hoeing.
• Use straw or plastic mulch to suppress the weeds between the rows.

• Same as bud or prebloom stage

Cultural control:

• Hand clipping of rolled leaves in trails and destroy
• Regular monitoring

Cultural control:

• Crop rotation with cowpea and legumes
• Secure plants free from infestation
• Dip the plants for some time in strong solution made by boiling stems or leaves of tobacco

Biological control:

• Application of neem cake

Cultural control:

• Clip off the leaves infested with aphids.

Biological control:

• Conserve and augment predators like coccinellids, Syrphids, green lace bug and parasitoids

Cultural control:

• Weed control is paramount to preventing a serious cutworm problem.
• Prunning reduces overwintering larvae

Mechanical control:

• Installation of bird perches

• Follow common cultural, mechanical and biological practices.

Cultural control:

• Avoid plantation of tomato, potato, pepper, brinjal and raspberry

Cultural control:

• Avoid planting infected plants
• Monitoring: Scouting during humid weather with frequent showering

• Same as bud or pre-bloom stage

• Same as bud or pre-bloom stage

• Same as bloom stage

Cultural control:

• Monitoring: regular monitoring and surveillance

Cultural control:

• Older leaves of the runner plants should be removed before the   fruit set

• Same as bud or pre-bloom stage

Fruit development stage

• Continue the straw or plastic mulch to suppress the weeds between the rows

• Same as bud or prebloom stage

• Same as bud or prebloom stage

• Same as bloom stage

• Same as bloom stage

Cultural control:

• Monitor with sticky traps.
• Crop rotation should be adopted to avoid the pest infestation, especially with legumes and cow pea
• Destroy refuse from the old orchards after harvest to reduce pest infestation
• In hill system, renew the beds after harvesting of first fruiting season if pest population is there. If no problem is there maintain the orchard for 4-6 years old depending on profitability of crop

Mechanical control:

• Collection of destruction of adult beetles in soapy water
• Good cultivation before planting will injure grubs and expose them to birds and the sun
• Installation of light trap
• Leave one or two rows of strawberry plants to serve as a trap before plowing infested plantings under shortly after harvest
• Rotate strawberry sites yearly with lettuce or cole crops
• Soil solarization

• Same as bud or prebloom stage

• Same as bud or prebloom stage

• Same as planting stage

Cultural control:

• Avoid excessive use of nitrogen
• Avoid touching of berries on ground
• Regular monitoring
• Mulching, removal of debris and better air circulation between plants can help minimize losses.

Cultural control:

• Orchard sanitation
• Community approach in control
• Sticky traps

Cultural control:

• Discard cultivating of all suspected plants and only healthy ones have to be used

Post-harvest

Cultural control:

• Cultivation of strawberries in sod land should be avoided
• Avoid cultivation of strawberry beds near the trees as adults feed on them and lays the eggs

Biological control:

• Application of neem cake

Cultural control:

• Go for crop rotation in infested soils.
• Plants should be free from infestation.
• Dip plants for few minutes in tobacco solution (boil tobacco stem or leaves in water).
• Regular monitoring has to be done.

Biological control:

• Apply neem cake in the orchard.

Cultural control:

• Starve the land for 2-3 years without any cultivation of any crop
• Grow crops like oats, mustard, peanuts, cowpea, corn and velvet bean to reduce the population.

• Same as prebloom stage