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CLIFF OHMART Vineyard View Is IPM Dead? about ecology-based pest management (IPM is short for integrated pest management), while encouraging environmentally compat- ible approaches and an awareness of IPM." Its membership is comprised primarily of independent pest control advisers (PCAs). For those not familiar with the term "inde- pendent PCA," it describes pest management consultants who do not sell products. T he inspiration for this column came from a discussion that played out on the Association of Applied IPM Ecologists list- serv (AAIE). AAIE's mission is to provide "quality information The discussion began with an AAIE member asking for advice about "cleaning up" a mealybug infestation of winegrapes in California's North Coast. The member, who had been confident that natural ene- mies would manage the mealybug popula- tion, now found himself with clusters full of sooty mold from the mealybug honey- dew excretions. Several AAIE members quickly respond- ed to the request for advice, all of them suggesting the use of conventional pesti- cides. In response, one of the members who co-founded AAIE in 1967 weighed in with these three words: "IPM is dead," presum- Highlights • Integrated pest management is a sus- tainable approach to managing pests in a way that minimizes economic, environmental and health risks. • A big challenge is to discover what is causing a pest's birth rate to exceed its death rate, so that its population exceeds the economic threshold. • Our farming systems are ecologically unstable, and pest problems are inevi- table. IPM is by far the best long-term approach to managing pests. The Clear Solution for Wine Filtration Reliable high performance filtration and hassle-free ordering for all your filtration equipment and media. We offer complete filtration solutions to the wine industry from grape to bottle. Crossflow Filter Flotation System Lenticular Housing Membrane Housing Plate & Frame Filter Filter Sheets Depth Media Membrane Filter 1.800.333.4288 QSEE US AT UNIFIED, BOOTH #T2 124 Wines & Vines JAnUARY 2011