Posts Tagged: protection

Curso En Línea De UC IPM Sobre Equipo De Protección Personal

Vístase Bien Para El Trabajo: Consulte El Nuevo Curso

En Línea De UC IPM Sobre Equipo De Protección Personal

Autors: Cheryl Reynolds y Petr Kosina

 

Si manipulas pesticidas como parte de tu trabajo, lo más probable es que usas algún tipo de equipo de protección personal (PPE). Sin embargo, ¿sabes si estás usando el tipo adecuado para el trabajo que haces? Usar el PPE apropiado, quitárselo de la manera correcta y limpiarlo correctamente evita la exposición innecesaria a pesticidas para ti y los demás. Conoce los pasos para no exponer a los miembros de tu familia o a quienes te rodean a residuos de pesticidas en la nueva versión del curso en línea sobre la Selección, Uso y Retiro Adecuados de Equipo de Protección Personal del Programa estatal de IPM de la Universidad de California (UC IPM).

El curso tiene una duración de 1.5 horas y ha sido aprobado por el Departamento de Reglamentación de Pesticidas de California en la categoría de Leyes y Reglamentaciones (1.5 CEU). Este curso está diseñado para todos los manipuladores de pesticidas con el objetivo de proporcionarles información sobre las etiquetas de los pesticidas y el Código de Reglamentaciones de California (CCR) para ayudarlos a seleccionar, usar, quitar y almacenar o retirar el PPE. El curso está disponible de forma gratuita, pero aquellos que necesiten un certificado de CEU deberán pagar 60 dólares.

En California, todos los manipuladores de pesticidas (aplicadores, mezcladores, cargadores, los quienes transportan pesticidas o los quienes reparan el equipo de aplicación) tienen la obligación legal de usar PPE. Sin embargo, para obtener la mayor protección, el PPE debe usarse correctamente. Las violaciones que involucran el uso incorrecto de PPE fueron el segundo tipo de violación en el área agrícola más reportado en 2020 según lo informado por el DPR (https://www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/license/pdf/pesticide_use_violation_2020.pdf).

El curso de PPE comienza con un escenario que describe un ejemplo real de un accidente reportado al DPR que condujo a un incidente de exposición a pesticidas porque no se usó la protección correcta para los ojos. El contenido que sigue está dividido en seis módulos, destacando los tipos de PPE, cómo seleccionarlos y cuándo deben usarse ciertos artículos. Vas a trabajar con las etiquetas de los pesticidas para aprender a seleccionar el PPE correcto y entender cuándo deben usarse ciertos artículos y responder preguntas breves sobre los diferentes tipos de EPP. Los videos instruccionales breves y las caricaturas animadas demuestran la manera correcta de ponerse o quitarse elementos como guantes, overoles, respiradores y anteojos. Para recibir su certificado de finalización y horas de educación continua deberás aprobar la prueba final con un 70% o más.

Si eres titular de una licencia o certificado del DPR y tu apellido comienza con las letras de la M a la Z, este es el año para renovar tu licencia. Ahora es un buen momento para tomar los cursos de capacitación en línea ofrecidos por UC IPM. Para obtener más información sobre la renovación de la licencia, visite la página web de DPR.

Algunas capturas de pantalla de este curso se muestran a continuación.

 

Caption: Como lo demuestra el marcador fluorescente visto bajo una luz negra, los residuos de pesticidas pueden transferirse a la cara cuando se quitan las gafas sin lavar primero los guantes.

Alt text: Imagen dividida. A la izquierda, una persona de pie en el estudio se quita el overol de trabajo con los guantes de caucho todavía puestos. La imagen de la derecha hecha bajo luz negra muestra la persona en una posición similar con guantes brillando y marcas blanquecinas en la cara de la persona.

 

 Caption: Los manipuladores de pesticidas deben limpiar su ropa de trabajo por separado de la ropa de la familia para evitar la contaminación por pesticidas.

Alt text: Imagen de dibujos animados: en el lavadero, el hombre cuelga su overol azul de trabajo para secarlo mientras una mujer se para cerca con un pulgar hacia arriba.

Caption: Use mangas de overol fuera de los guantes cuando aplique pesticidas debajo del hombro para que los pesticidas no entren en los guantes.Alt text: Una mano en guante verde con manga de overol blanco puesto sobre el guante. Líquido púrpura corre desde la manga blanca hasta el guante.

 

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CE Credits for Personal Protection Equipment Course

UC ANR Statewide IPM Program, Writer/Editor, (530) 750-1237

Spring is in full swing and summer is right around the corner. If you work in agricultural, turf, landscape, or structural settings, you are probably at your busiest. If you handle pesticides as part of your work, you most likely wear some sort of personal protective equipment (PPE). However, do you know if you are wearing the right type for the job that you do? Wearing the appropriate PPE, taking it off the right way, and correctly cleaning it prevents unnecessary pesticide exposure to yourself and others. Learn the steps so you don't expose your family members or those around you to pesticide residues by viewing a brand new online course on Proper Selection, Use, and Removal of Personal Protective Equipment from the UC Statewide IPM Program (UC IPM).

The course is approved by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) for 1.5 hours in the Laws and Regulations category. This course is designed for all pesticide handlers with the goal to provide them with information on pesticide labels and the California Code of Regulations (CCR) to help them select, wear, remove, and dispose of or store PPE.

In California, all pesticide handlers (applicators, mixers, loaders, those who transport pesticides, or those who fix application equipment) are legally required to wear PPE. However, in order to get the most protection from PPE, it must be used correctly. Violations involving the incorrect use of PPE were the second most commonly reported type of agricultural-use violation in 2017 as reported by DPR (PDF).

The new PPE online course opens with a scenario describing a real example of an accident reported to DPR that led to an incident of pesticide exposure because the correct eye protection was not worn. The content that follows is divided into six instructional modules, highlighting types of PPE, how to select it, and when certain items should be worn. Answer short questions about the different types of PPE. Open pesticide labels to learn how to select the right PPE and learn when certain items should be worn. Short how-to videos and animated sequences demonstrate the proper way to put on or remove items such as gloves, coveralls, respirators, and eyewear. You must pass a final test with 70% or higher to receive your certificate of completion and continuing education hours.

If this is the year to renew your license with DPR, get a jumpstart on it. Take this new course and all the other UC IPM online courses to refresh your knowledge and get the CEUs you need. There is a $30 fee for taking Proper Selection, Use, and Removal of Personal Protective Equipment. You are welcome to view the content for free on YouTube, but without the activities, final exam, and continuing education credit. For more information about license renewal, visit DPR.

 

PPE clothes

Discouraging citrus varieties smuggling by offering easy access to pathogen-tested budwood

Citrus Clonal Protection Program Lindcove Research & Extension Center, University of California

 

When I started working at the Citrus Clonal Protection Program (CCPP) in 2012 (Fig. 1), citrus budwood was distributed three times per year (i.e. January, June and September) and there was a minimum order limit for 36 buds per order. In July of 2013, CCPP began monthly budwood distribution and essentially removed the budwood order limit offering as little as one budstick (6 buds). This was a game changer. In the following three years of monthly budwood distribution, the amount of requested buds has increased by almost 50% (Fig. 2), and most importantly, the orders placed by citrus hobbyists has increased by almost 80%. Citrus hobbyists are growing citrus for non-commercial purposes. Many of the hobbyists have a small “citrus forest” in their backyards, typically of diverse varieties, and they are very proud of their trees. They are typically not interested in purchasing grafted citrus trees, they want to graft their own citrus trees. It is hard to understand the citrus hobbyists' deep affection for their trees! I grew up in a citrus family farm and for me, citrus was as any other crop, a plant for profit. However, after interacting with the citrus hobbyists over the past several years, I have gained a level of respect and understanding that the passion citrus enthusiast have.

I had always been taught that citrus hobbyists are a threat to the citrus industry and their capacity to propagate citrus should be limited or denied. This line of thinking has resulted in some citrus production areas to restrict citrus budwood access for non-commercial use. Today, I see that ignorance is the true threat to the citrus industry. People usually don't understand or comprehend that smuggling plants or plant parts can disseminate diseases and cause severe economic damage to the farmers. Restricting the desire to propagate a citrus variety may force someone to smuggle it. A sad example is Huanglongbing (HLB) in California. This imminent threat to the California citrus industry was first found in a back yard citrus tree that had 23 grafts of unknown budwood origin.

The California HLB/Asian Citrus Psyllid prevention campaign is doing an excellent job of educating the public. Also the University of California Cooperative Extension is teaching Master Gardeners about the dangers of smuggling plants. On the Internet, there are individuals, such as the pomologist-writer “Fruit Detective” and the citrus hobbyist-blogger “Fruitmentor”, educating people on the correct way to propagate citrus and providing information regarding the threat of importing budwood that that may contain pathogens that could effects citrus production locally. Thanks to this multi educational effort, many citrus hobbyists are now part of the solution and they are actively engaged in the effort to protect the California citrus.

CCPP has over 300 citrus varieties available to anyone interested in propagating citrus trees for commercial or personal use. Orders can be as small as 6 buds (one budstick) per variety at $ 4.50. Therefore, the CCPP offers the incentive to use inexpensive-easily purchased- tested budwood over smuggled or exchanged “dirty” citrus budwood.

Despite all of the above, I still strongly recommend to purchase grafted trees at local stores or online (e.g.

www.fourwindsgrowers.com). Grafting citrus is not as easy as it may look. It requires skill, another citrus tree to be used as a rootstock, and a controlled environment (especially

temperature and water). However, if you are going to do it yourself, make sure the material your using is disease free!

 

To learn more about the CCPP, go to www.ccpp.ucr.edu and remember: CCPP is the place for starting citrus correctly.

 

Panoramic view of the Citrus Clonal Protection Program foundation block operations at the Lindcove Research and Extension Center, Exeter, California. Photo: E. Grafton-Cardwell.

 

CCCP foundation block operations at Lindcove

Methods of Frost Protection

Mature Orchards

Only two general methods of protecting avocado groves have proved satisfactory - heaters and wind machines. A combination of these two also is used. Many makes and designs of heaters and wind machines are offered for sale and they must be compared on the basis of protection provided and cost of installing and operating. This publication is limited to their general application in avocado groves. Their actual operation is discussed in other available publications of the University of California.

Orchard Heaters

Experience has shown that a large number of small fires burning throughout the orchard provide better protection than a few large fires concentrated in spots. The value of heaters is noted below to provide a basis for selecting the general type of protection needed.

Their advantages are:

• They usually furnish more adequate protection than wind machines. However, in extremely cold conditions they, too, can be inadequate.
• Only enough heaters to maintain safe temperatures need to be lighted.
• Additional heaters and oil can be stored in the field for emergency conditions.
• They distribute heat to all parts of the grove.

Their disadvantages are:

• Smokiness. However, certain types have low smoke output when properly operated.
• Relatively high costs of investment and operation.
• Fire hazard due to mat of leaves beneath the trees.
• Trouble and work of operation and maintenance.
• High labor requirements.

For colder locations and positive protection, orchard heating is the only proven method. Pipe line heaters, using either heater oil or natural gas under pressure from permanently installed pipelines, are efficient but very expensive. Economical and effective heating is provided by heaters with 9-gallon capacity bowls and improved designs of stacks burning a low grade of diesel oil. Usually 45 to 90 heaters are used per acre depending on the frost hazard.

Wind Machines

In certain locations, wind machines have provided economical protection. Their effect is essentially that of a large fan which mixes the air within and above the orchard so that the average air temperature near the ground is raised. Their precise effects are not completely understood, but studies are being continued by the University of California.

Their advantages are:

• More economical than orchard heaters
• Low labor requirements for operation
• Adequate protection against local radiation frosts when temperatures go only 2 or 3 degrees below the damaging point
• Useful in increasing air movement in groves where dead air occurs
• Increased effectiveness of heaters.

Their disadvantages are:

• Inadequate protection with freeze conditions or when temperatures go 4 or 5 degrees or more below the damaging point
• Inadequate protection in locations where little or no ceiling occurs
• Unequal protection throughout grove
• Less effective in young plantings.

Machines providing at least 5 horsepower per acre should be selected on the basis of cost and ease of operation. The location of the machine or machines in an orchard depends on the drift, the topography, and the other variables. Consult other University of California publications for additional information.

Combination Heaters and Wind Machines

Usually 8 to 25 heaters per acre uniformly scattered throughout the grove are sufficient when used with an effectively installed wind machine. The combination provides adequate protection for even the colder locations. The wind machine will protect the grove for some of the nights by itself, but for the very cold nights, the heaters are available to add heat and thus provide positive protection. Usually the heaters are lighted whenever the wind machines cannot maintain the temperatures above the danger point.

This combination method has the advantage over heaters used alone, in that it is cheaper, while providing as complete protection.

A great many other types and methods of protection has been tried, but because of one or more faults in each, they cannot be recommended.

Protecting Young Trees

Orchard heaters and wind machines are less effective in protecting young trees in their first two or three years in the orchard than other methods which are usually cheaper, anyway. The first consideration in protecting newly planted trees is to have the trees as large as possible. Planting and topworking should be done in the spring so the trees will make the maximum growth during the summer and fall, before low temperatures occur in the winter.

In locations having serious frost hazard, you might try the practice of planting Mexican seedlings in place in the field and permitting them to grow for 2 to 3 years before topworking. Then if the topworking is done early in the spring, the young trees will have made enough growth to better withstand the cold of the following winter.

Protection for young trees is best accomplished by sheltering them from radiation heat loss. Shelters for this purpose are of many types, the most common are sketched below.

In cold location, young trees may require several types of protection; they may be wrapped with paper, mounded with dirt, or surrounded with corn stalks.

Care of Frost Damaged Trees

Determining the amount of damage is often a difficult job and cannot be done accurately for some months following the freeze. It is usually better to let the tree recover by itself.

Sunburn Prevention

Exposed limbs can be badly damaged by sunburning. Whenever defoliated trees have not grown enough new leaves to protect the limbs before hot weather occurs, you should provide protection.

Protection is best provided by spraying or painting all exposed limbs with either a cold water white paint or a whitewash. One good whitewash formula would include 50 lbs. hydrated lime and 4 lbs. zinc sulfate to each 100 gallons of water.

Irrigation

Do not irrigate frosted trees until the soil in the root zone approaches dryness. The loss of leaves reduces the use of water so the soil will remain wet longer than with unaffected trees. Careful, frequent examination of the soil is necessary to prevent excess moisture from normal irrigations. Avocado root rot occurs in soils with excessive moisture when the cinnamomi fungus is present, and growers must guard against this disease following frost damage.

Pruning

Do no pruning until you know how much of the tree has been killed. No foliage will grow from the remaining live wood and the tree will recover better without pruning.

When new shoots are at least two or three feet long, you can remove the dead wood. This will usually be mid-summer, 6 to 8 months following the frost. At the same time, suckers should be thinned out to select the new limbs to replace those lost. Large pruning cuts (3 inches or more) should be painted with an asphalt emulsion, or other sealing paint, to prevent drying and infection.

Care of Young Trees

Badly frozen young trees usually develop strong sucker growth that can be used to form a tree as good as a replanted tree. If these suckers are from above the bud union, you can develop a new top by thinning and training. On young trees frozen back to below the bud union, strong root suckers can be budded or grafted to the desired variety the following spring. If the sucker growth is weak, the tree should be removed.

Severely Frozen Mature Trees

The handling of severely frozen mature trees where they have been killed back to the large scaffold limbs, to the trunk, or to the ground, presents many problems. Each tree should be considered separately. Often growers should topwork badly frozen trees to a more resistant or productive variety. Ask your Farm Advisor to assist you in determining the best procedures.

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Avocado Frost Damage

TYPES OF INJURY

Fruit Damage

Fruit damage consists of frozen stems, frozen fibers inside the fruit, or frozen flesh and skin, depending on the temperatures and their duration. This damage appears slowly and is difficult to appraise accurately.

For some varieties, principally in the case of the Fuerte, the first evidence of damage will show up as a browning on the stem a few days after a frost. Mature fruit with only the stems frosted can be picked and marketed. Nearly every year some of the crop from frosted Fuerte groves is salvaged by picking all the fruit showing frosted stems as soon after the frost as possible. Unless this fruit is harvested, it will fall from the tree. Frozen fruit of other varieties, particularly the Guatemalan types, may never show the browning, but will drop anyway.

Frozen fruit fibers (vascular bundles) turn black and California law prohibits the marketing of all seriously damaged fruits. Before you pick mature frosted fruit, you should call in your marketing organization representative and local agricultural inspector to help you determine how much of the fruit should be harvested. By cutting representative fruit, they can tell whether it is within the legal tolerance or not, and guide you in marketing your fruit.

Severely frozen fruit may show brown water-soaked spots in the skin, gray areas in the flesh, and may even crack or split. It is unmarketable and will drop from the tree in time.

Tree Damage

Frozen blossoms, leaves, and twigs turn black within a few days. But larger wood, although frozen, may never turn black. Great variation occurs in the location of tree damage. In some cases, only the lower part of the tree will be frosted, while in other cases only the top part is affected. Sometimes, only a limb on one side will be frosted. Thus, it is impossible to evaluate accurately the extent of wood damage until new growth comes out the following spring and summer.

Trees suffering moderate wood damage usually will not bloom properly and will produce a reduced crop the following season. Occasionally, trees have been killed all the way to the ground by severe freezes.

Tree Resistance

When tender growth should be delayed until early spring

The resistance of the fruit and trees to freezing temperatures helps determine whether a grove must be protected or not. Then too, both the minimum temperature and the duration of damaging temperatures affect the amount of injury. For example, three or four hours of 29 degrees may injure an orchard more than a brief drop to 25 degrees. Frost susceptibility varies greatly from situation to situation. Adequate appraisal of each situation should include consideration of the following variables.

Age and Crowding

Young trees (up to 3 years of age) and recently top-worked trees of all varieties may be killed by temperatures which would only cause minor damage to nearby mature trees. Protection for such trees is a wise practice, even in warm locations.

In general, older trees of a given variety are more resistant, except in orchards where they are crowded. Where the soil is shaded during the day, it cannot absorb the sun's heat and thus has little heat to give off during the night. Crowding also restricts the drift through the grove and increases the difficulties of orchard heating. For these reasons, thinning groves is often advisable to reduce their frost hazard.

Health

Weak trees are more subject to frost damage than healthy ones. Be sure your trees go through the whole year with an adequate supply of moisture; withholding irrigation water in the fall to "harden them up" can actually weaken trees and make them more susceptible.

Growth Flush

Occasionally avocado trees are in a growth flush (a period of rapid new growth) when freezing temperatures occur. This is not usual, but unseasonably warm weather may stimulate a tree into abnormal growth in the winter. To avoid stimulation, pruning should be delayed until early spring. When tender growth occurs in the winter, growers may have to provide additional protection or sustain damage.

Size of Crop

Trees with large crops are more susceptible to frost. To save this fruit, temperatures would have to be maintained one or two degrees higher than would otherwise be necessary.

Varieties of Avocado

A wide range of susceptibility occurs among avocado varieties. To classify them according to their resistance is difficult because of the variations already mentioned. But the races of avocados do exhibit differences and can be used as frost resistance indicators.

The Mexican race is the most resistant, and is able to withstand temperatures about as well as orange trees.

The Guatemalan race is the most susceptible grown in California. Some varieties are slightly more resistant than others, so the race can be divided into tender and very tender classifications. Because the fruit is immature during the winter, the crop may be lost while the trees will suffer only minor damage. Lower temperatures will seriously damage trees and affect their future productivity.

The hybrids, as typified by the Fuerte, are intermediate in their frost resistance, and are in about the same class as lemon trees. Because of the Fuerte's importance, it has become the standard measure of frost resistance. Protection is usually provided to save the Fuerte crop since the fruit is mature in the winter months.

As a guide to inexperienced growers, Table I gives a basis for establishing frost protection practices. The critical temperatures listed are for mature healthy trees. Other tree conditions might move these figures one or two degrees higher. Also, the duration of the damaging temperatures would affect the degree of injury.

Variety Frost Resistance
Race	Typical varieties	Critical temperature below which fruit and/or trees are subject to damage
Mexican	Duke, Topa topa, Mexicola, Zutano, Bacon	25 Degrees F
Hybrids	Fuerte, Puebla	28 Degrees F
Guatemalan (Tender)	Ryan, Hass, MacArthur, Nabal, Endranol, Rincon	29 Degrees F
Guatemalan (Very Tender)	Anaheim, Dickinson, Carlsbad, Challenge, Hellen	30 Degrees F

Need for Protection

Frost protection is an expensive and disagreeable job which requires careful consideration by all growers. Each grower must determine his own needs. No one can predict accurately the frost hazard for a given location. Information can be obtained by installing the proper thermometers on the property. Observing adjoining orchards and talking with neighbors will give good background information.

The topography of the orchard and the surrounding land enters into the evaluation. Land on hillsides with steeper slopes is usually warmer than lower valley land. Locations with strong prevailing drifts, or exposed to winds, usually are warmer than sheltered areas having little air movement. Tall dense windbreaks can make a grove one or two degrees colder, but the lower branches of the windbreak can be trimmed to overcome this. Coastal areas usually have less frost hazard because the relative humidity is higher, and ceilings are lower than in interior areas.

As mentioned in the beginning, your final evaluation should answer this question: "Will the fruit and foliage I save pay for the trouble and expense of protection?" Often it is possible to take some damage every few years and still have a more profitable orchard than if equipment were purchased and operated. On the other hand, an investment in equipment, if properly operated, will save your trees and crops. The decision should be based on a long range economic estimate, balancing the money lost by damage against the costs of protection. This same evaluation will determine the type of protection to provide, if needed.

In some counties and communities, smoke ordinances regulate the type of equipment and methods of operation to reduce smoke output. When you purchase new orchard heater equipment, it should be the most smokeless available in order to comply with possible future expansion or tightening of these ordinances. The trend toward eliminating smoky orchard heaters in most areas will affect the grower's choice of equipment.

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