With winter right around the corner, it is important to take the time to reduce overwintering populations of navel orangeworm (NOW).
If you or your parents were growing almonds in California 40 years ago, you could have experienced an average harvest of fewer than 985 pounds per acre, of which more than 8% was lost as a result of damage by navel orangeworm (NOW). Today, yields have more than doubled, and NOW damage is currently running at 1% or less.
Improvements in yield and quality over these past years are no coincidence. In 1972, the Federal Marketing Order for almonds was revised so that Almond Board of California could establish and fund production research projects. By the next year, a cooperative research program was started. At the time, the focus was on managing NOW.
Ongoing research shows that for winter sanitation, mummy nut removal is key. Mummy nuts should be removed down to two or fewer per tree, depending on location.
It takes commitment and dedication to orchard practices to increase yields and keep NOW damage below 1%. I encourage you to review the “Winter Sanitation Essential to Food Safety” article in this issue.
Sincerely,
Joel MacIlvaine
Chairman, Production Research Committee
