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July 7, 2015

Phermones help reduce pesticide use

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Eugene-area hazelnut farmers starting to use pheromones to save crops and reduce pesticide use.

The Register-Guard reports (http://bit.ly/1JJyu2I) moth larvae ruin hazelnuts by burrowing inside and farmers are trying to reduce pesticides use by making it harder for male moths to mate.

Oregon State University's research lasted three years and was funded by Eugene's water board and the Oregon Hazelnut Commission as part of an effort to reduce pesticides that can end up in the city's only water source, the McKenzie River.

Oregon State University entomologist Vaughn Walton says filling the orchard air with female pheromones in a process called mating disruption keeps males from finding the female and prevents mating.




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