 Food safety and wholesomeness is a concern to us all. The University of California is helping farmers use biological control to reduce the use of pesticides. Biological controls pit beneficial organisms against pests. For example, the tiny wasp aphytus is helping control California red scale, a serious citrus pest. The wasp lays its egg into the red scale. The egg hatches into a larva which feeds on the scale and kills it. Decolette snails prey on the destructive brown garden snail. Mealybug is an insect destructive to plants and fruit. The beetle cryptolamus eats mealybugs and controls this pest. Some farmers also are changing their farming practices to encourage the survival of beneficial organisms that occur naturally in their fields. When pesticides are necessary, more and more farmers are being as selective as possible so they kill only the target pest and not the good guys. And they are modifying farming practices to provide food and shelter for beneficial insects and disking under weeds that harbor pests. The use of beneficial organisms to control pests and reduce the amount of chemicals used to produce the food we eat is part of a farming system known as integrated pest management. Other integrated pest management practices include using crop varieties that are resistant to pests, rotating crops to prevent the buildup of pest populations, modifying fertilization and irrigation practices to discourage pests, and soil solarization. For more information, contact your local University Cooperative Extension. Food safety and wholesomeness is a concern to all of us. The University of California is helping farmers change their farming practices to reduce the use of pesticides in the crops they produce. For example, in the past, branches in citrus groves grew naturally, touching the ground. Now, most groves in California are being skirt-pruned. That is, the low-hanging branches are removed so the non-flying pests, such as snails and ants, have only one way to attack a tree by crawling up the trunk. With skirt-pruned trees, growers can control snails by strapping a solid copper band around the trunk. Snails find the copper irritating and will not venture across it. Skirt-pruning also allows for about a hundred-fold decrease in the use of a granular insecticide used to control ants, because insecticide can be placed right at the ant hill. Selective pesticides help farmers to zero in on specific pests without extensively harming populations of beneficial insects. For example, citrus growers are now using a selective insecticide and a predatory mite together to control citrus thrips, a tiny insect that feeds on citrus in the green stage, leaving scars that damage the appearance of the finished fruit. Many farmers also hire pest control consultants to monitor pest populations in their crops. These consultants ensure that pesticides are used only when pests reach crop damaging levels, and then at precise times in the pest's life cycle to obtain the most efficient control. Pesticide applications are very costly and the last resort for many farmers. With the help of research programs like the university's IPM and sustainable agriculture projects, farms are constantly looking for safer methods to control pests, methods that are environmentally sound, and will provide our community with an abundant supply of clean, safe, fresh food. For more information, contact your local university cooperative extension.