In response to regulatory pressures, pest management in orchards will become more challenging and risky for producers. As federal and state regulations restrict the use of, or phase out, the organophosphate insecticides, producers must reduce their reliance on what may be considered as the most effective ­insecticides that we have ever had. Case in point is the phase-out of azinphos-methyl (Guthion) in apples and pears by 2012. Large-scale research/producer projects like the 5-year Areawide Codling Moth Integrated Pest Management Project in the western United States demonstrated that the key insect pest can be ­controlled without organophosphates, but the ­transition was […]