About EWOBC

Enhancing Western Orchard Biological Control (EWOBC) is a collaborative SCRI project between Washington State University (lead institution), USDA-ARS, Oregon State University, and the University of California at Berkeley. The team is focused on ways to improve the stability of IPM programs in apple, pear, and walnut orchards, by enhancing biological control. Our team includes six entomologists, an insect geneticist, an economist, an extension specialist, and a sociologist.

Goals

The project has two goals: (1) To ensure the sustainability of three high-value tree crops (apple, pear, and walnut) in the western US; and (2) to synthesize new information developed by this project with the existing knowledge base, and deliver it in a user-accessible package. This project is a response to stakeholder-identified needs for solutions to FQPA-mandated reductions in organophosphate pesticide use, which has destabilized IPM systems in use for decades in all three crops.

Funding

This project is funded by the Cooperative State Research Education and Extension Service (CSREES) Speciality Crops Research Initiative (SCRI) with matching support from Washington State University, Oregon State University, University of California at Berkeley, Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission, Washington State Commission on Pesticide Registration, Washington State University Pest Management Transition Project, and California Walnut Board.