WORDS ART
ELIAS BORN GABRIELLE BODE
PALISADE INSECTARY USES INSECTS AS PEST CONTROL in an agricultural world filled with pesticide and chemical usage, the Palisade Insectary, located in Palisade, Colorado, stands strong as an alternative that’s been in business for 75 years and counting. The insectary conducts biological pest control — a substitute to pesticides that involves using insects to combat pests and invasive species. Since 1945, the insectary has sought to provide farmers and residents with a more natural way to fight weeds and other pests. “Peach growers [of the past] were faced with a problem,” Director of the Colorado Department of Agriculture’s Palisade Insectary Dan Bean said. “They didn’t have the chemicals that are present today. This was before the development of most of our modern-day insecticides.” The problem in question was Grapholita molesta, otherwise known as the oriental fruit moth. Originally native to China, this particular moth was a huge pest to peach farmers in the Grand Valley after its introduction to the United States.
