ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the use of pesticides in quarantine disinfestations of pests from fruits and vegetables. The scope for pesticides as quarantine treatments against pests of food plants is broad, ranging from field application as pest suppression and eradication programs to postharvest disinfestation treatments. Use of insect growth regulators is a new approach to quarantine disinfestation both in the pesticide type used and the method of application that is the chemical is mixed with the wax that is applied during packing to protect fruit and to enhance their appearance. Foliar applications, combined with cultural practices such as skirt pruning, provide quarantine security for citrus exported to Japan without sacrificing integrated pest management programs which minimize pesticide residues on the fruit. There is a role for pesticides in both postharvest disinfestation and pest suppression in the field as adjuncts to quarantine systems which include pest management requirements to meet established maximum residue limits.
