A Community-wide Approach to Whitefly Management

An extension supported, grower controlled, community pest management group was initiated in the Laveen and Tolleson communities of Arizona with the management of sweetpotato whitefly (SPWF) as its initial focus. The three functions of this group were awareness, communication, and cooperation. Increased awareness and communication of pest management problems and solutions were achieved through regular meetings and newsletters. Community cooperation took the form of a community-based overwintering survey and a sticky trap network. These two cooperative activities served both an educational and a research function. From the overwintering survey and the sticky trap network, growers learned about the overwintering habits and movement dynamics of whiteflies in their area, the limits of sticky traps for SPWF detection, the need for the reduction of SPWF populations before they move onto cotton. and the need for careful infield sampling of SPWF populations.