Modbee.com

By RICHARD T. ESTRADA
BEE STAFF WRITER

Oct. 14, 2003

As the state zeros in on people who poison waterways, almond growers are cutting pesticide use so they won't be targeted.

"The best way to avoid having regulations put on you is to take steps before it gets that far," said Tony Francois, director of water resources for the California Farm Bureau Federation.

The Almond Pest Management Alliance was formed in 1998 with pesticide reduction as a priority.

The consortium of growers, researchers and pest control advisers has received $476,000 from the California Department of Pesticide Regulation the last five years. The money created an integrated pest management program that finds non- pesticide answers for traditional problems.

Almond growers used 14.5 million pounds of pesticide in 1997, a year before the alliance, but 10.1 million pounds in 2001, state pesticide officials said.

The decline coincided with a rise in production: There are a record 525,000 acres of almonds in California and the 2002 crop was a record 1.08 billion pounds.

"I'm not surprised we were increasing our production during this," said Wayne Zipser, who grows almonds on the east side of Stanislaus County. "We've made significant investments in technology. That's meant more almonds with fewer pesticides."

The cut in pesticide use goes beyond almonds: California farmers used 137 million pounds of pesticides in 2001, compared with 190 million pounds in 1997.

Almond growers point to diazinon as an example of the effort. Their use of the pesticide fell from 115,000 pounds in 1997 to 63,000 pounds in 2001, a 45 percent drop. Growers used 300,000 pounds a year in the early 1990s.

Growers now use traps; pest- attracting, environmentally friendly chemicals that interrupt the mating process; and electronic gear to monitor orchards. They also plant grasses that attract beneficial bugs, which eat pests.

Diazinon is a leading cause of insecticide poisoning in humans and animals, noted the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

It is often sprayed in the winter, when rain can wash it off trees and carry it to rivers, lakes and runoff ditches. Dozens of other pesticides are just as lethal and spread just as quickly.

That's why the state is requiring farmers to provide more information on what pesticides they use on their land and when they are applying them.

"If the state knows what growers are using and where, it can respond quickly to problems," said Eric Wesselman, a water analyst with the Sierra Club. "That will take pressure off the growers who are spraying carefully."