GROWERS MULL USING PESTICIDE.

Byline: Lisa Mascaro Daily News Staff Writer

A little white fly that lives on the underside of strawberry plant leaves could be facing a debated pesticide as the county agricultural department steps up its assault on the persistent insect.

The greenhouse white fly that made an occasional home in the local crops increased its population this summer in the Oxnard area, and officials are concerned the bug could potentially infest the large strawberry industry.

``It's just developed a taste for the strawberry, and that's not a good sign,'' said Dave Buettner, the county's chief deputy agricultural commissioner. ``If it spreads, it could be disastrous to the industry. Right now it's only disastrous to those growers that have high populations.''

Local growers have about a one-month window of opportunity to decide whether they will use a pesticide called Admire, which cannot be applied later in the season because it would be too close to harvest.

However, some growers are taking a cautious approach, saying their fly troubles are not worth the risk of using the new pesticide that has not passed the final approval needed for crops on their way to the marketplace.

Doug Wagner of Poplar Farms, whose 40-acre farm near the Port Hueneme Road area has some white flies, said he's counting on the cooler winter days to help reduce the fly population that is living on about one of every three plants in his fields.

``I don't know if we're going to use it or not,'' said Wagner, whose farms north of Oxnard have not had flies. ``If you see the white fly's going to cause economic problems, it's time to treat.''

Last week, the county agriculture office won an emergency permit from the state Environmental Protection Agency to use the pesticide, on the condition that a so-called tolerance level still needs to be established to determine how much of the chemical can remain as residue on the fruit.

The pesticide has been used on other crops but is not typically used on strawberries.

Buettner said that state EPA officials generally do not issue an emergency approval unless a tolerance level rating is soon to follow, but said without a level established, the growers are taking a risk.

``The grower is taking a chance by applying it at this point,'' he said. ``I could apply it and lose my crop, or I cold lose my crop to the bug.''

Last week, just one grower at the county agricultural commissioner's Camarillo office had applied for the emergency permit, according to officials.

Activists have been scrambling to learn more about the pesticide, which they said is relatively new and without a background of research.

``The problem with (an emergency permit) is we don't know what the effects are, then they get the ability to go out there for one year and use the chemicals,'' said Vicki Clark, an attorney with the Environmental Defense Center in Santa Barbara. ``We really don't know how bad it is on strawberries.''

However, the group had no plans at this point to oppose use of the pesticide.

The white fly, which has been known in the area, multiplied during the sticky summer weather. The fly settles on the underside of the leaves, laying eggs that then feed on the berry plant. They leave a residue of soot that makes the fruit unfit for consumers, Wagner said.

Admire would attack the bug when it is eating the plant. The chemical is released into the soil and the plant and eventually consumed by the bug, officials said.

``The only problem right now is the state hasn't established a tolerance level'' for the pesticide, Wagner said. ``Until that's done, it's probably not going to be widely used.''

The fly has not yet spread to other regions, Buettner said, but officials sought the emergency permit to help fight the fly if it does migrate.

``We're still talking about a fairly low percentage of the overall crop,'' he said. ``The main thing is that it gives the grower the opportunity to use it if the infestation spreads out of that area. Any tool the grower can have to control that infestation is to their advantage.''