Acres – Holistic Orchard Disease and Pest
Healthy, profitable orchards require a holistic, multi-pronged strategy for disease and pest control
Chuck Schembre
Orchard crops may receive the most pesticide and chemical applications of all crops. Some varieties will receive 20 or more pesticide applications per year. This has become one of the main tasks for an orchardist: sitting in a tractor and spraying.
One of the most powerful arguments for regenerative agriculture is thus the potential to greatly reduce or eliminate toxic pesticide applications.
After decades of proven examples in many crops in many climates, it is undeniable that regenerative farming methods — agroecological farming — can lead to farms and crops that are completely free of disease. What these farms all have in common is healthy soil, abundant farm biodiversity, and optimal plant nutrition, supported by the soil and plant microbiome
