Best Management Practices for Orchard Spraying

Decrease runoff that might contain pesticides by planting and maintaining cover crops to increase water penetration and intercept runoff.

Plant roots penetrate the soil surface. This increases the infiltration of water into the ground surface and in turn decreases overland flow.

 

Cover crops (especially grasses) slow down the movement of overland runoff by physically blocking water flow, giving the water more time to absorb into the soil.

 

Microbes in cover crop rhizosphere are important in degrading pesticide residues.

The absence of cover crops and the presence of compacted soil surface increase the likelihood of surface runoff. 

 

Surface runoff can contain pesticides as well as nutrients, which can

contaminate nearby waterways.

Hood River Grower-Shipper Association -- Best Management Practices Project