Almonds are such a simple and yummy snack, it is hard to imagine that anyone or anything would wish them ill will.
Unfortunately, there a quite a few threats to our little golden brown friends in the form of bacteria, insects, etc.
That’s right, this week on An Amateur’s Adventure with Almonds, we are talking all things pests & the oh so glamorous ways we can prevent them from robbing us of our sweet, sweet almonds.
There a couple different species of bugs that try to infest almond orchards. There’s fruit moths, leaf footed bugs and even spider mites (if you shuddered while reading that, welcome to the club). However, the current hot, trendy pest is the Navel Orangeworm, lovingly referred to as NOW.
They look like this (I apologize in advance for the nightmares to follow) :
These gross little larvae get their big break in “mummies” which is the term for almonds that rotted on the tree and didn’t get shaken off. They burrow on in there and eat everything they can from the inside out.
These jerks can survive winter in the mummies and even lay more eggs inside their rotted heaven so that they can spread when the weather improves.
Almond farmers can prevent, and somewhat treat, NOW infestation with traps. The traps are filled with fake mummies that contain almond meal and almond oil. They are hung in quite specific places. They have to be at least 5 trees in from the edge, on the north side of the nonpareils and at about head height. (The Almond Doctor 1)
Farmers should have at least one trap for every 10 acres but no less than 4 traps in any orchard, no matter the size.
The California Almond Board also strongly encourages Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) which are basic guidelines to “minimize potential hazards.”
An example of one of these guidelines is to store tractors, shakers, etc. (really any equipment that comes into contact with the nut) in places where birds (that could be migrating from other countries) and other exotic species cannot easily access them.
The good news is that we seem to have pretty much turned the lights on as far as the relevant threats to our almonds. However, as a community farmers are encouraged to remain vigilant in ensuring no foreign species have a chance to place a foothold in our orchards.
Next week I am going to get the chance to speak with someone in the almond industry & pick their brain about where they think the industry could improve, where it’s heading in general and why they have chosen the almond industry to call home.
See you next week!
Carolyn Ringer
http://thealmonddoctor.com/2017/03/22/seasonal-insect-pest-monitoring-in-almonds/
http://www.almonds.com/growers/growing-safe-product/gaps/tc-pres-control
An Amateur's Adventure with Almonds 