California Grants to Support Sustainable Pest Control Projects

The California Department of Food and Agriculture announced that it is awarding $3 million for three projects through the Biologically Integrated Farming Systems (BIFS) grant program. The projects funded this year focus on a range of practices aimed at reducing reliance on pesticides. Each four-year grant is a collaborative effort between growers, pest control advisors, commodity groups, scientists, and other stakeholders. One project seeks to develop and promote a biologically integrated pest management program for the diamondback moth in cole crops. Another focuses on replacing soil fumigation of strawberries with steam injection, disease-resistant varieties, and other methods. The third project seeks to reduce pyrethroid insecticide use in nut orchards through watershed-wide use of pheromone mating disruption for key pests.