IRDA and Producteurs de pommes du Québec recognized at the Union des producteurs agricoles annual conference

IRDA and Producteurs des Pommes du Québec received the Hélène-Alarie Environmental Award at the Grande Fête Agricole et Forestière event organized by Union des Producteurs Agricoles.

The award, given to both organizations, underscores the excellence of the mating disruption technique—where sprayers are used to apply pheromones, substances comparable to perfume—to control the codling moth, a serious apple pest. This technique goes a long way towards replacing pesticides and its use has grown by leaps and bounds. In 2017, 137 Québec orchards, an area equivalent to 2,800 football fields (1,521 hectares), used mating disruption to control the codling moth—a formidable pheromone defensive line indeed!