Pacific Northwest Vegetable Association to hold annual conference

KENNEWICK — Two days in November will be jam-packed full of information about vegetables. The Pacific Northwest Vegetable Association will hold their annual conference and trade show on Wednesday and Thursday, Nov. 20 and 21.

“The Pacific Northwest Vegetable Association represents all vegetable growers from Idaho, Oregon, and Washington,” states their website, pnva.org. “To the association, the smallest specialty crop grower is just as important as the largest corporate farm that has thousands of acres. Both fill a specific need in the marketplace. The Pacific Northwest Vegetable Association is dedicated to education, research, production, promotion, and representation relative to the Northwest vegetable industry and its markets.”

Each year, the association holds a conference to help further the education and growing practices of their members. A trade show is held in conjunction with the conference to allow attendees to see what options are available to them.

Four different sessions will be held during the conference. An onion session and general vegetable session will be held on Wednesday. On Thursday, there will be an organic session and a pest management session.

Topics in the onion session will include produce safety, avoiding developing further resistance, alternative insecticides for the management of Seedcorn Maggot, crop rotation strategies, how to maintain quality during storage and drip irrigation for sandy soils. The general vegetable sessions will include watermelon plant survival, looking at peppers and broccoli in the Columbia Basin as an alternative crop, emerging seed-borne viruses and Beet Leafhoppers and diseases they bring.

Thursday’s pest management session will include pesticides and water quality, nematodes in vegetable crops, what pesticide exposure looks like, volunteer crops as weeds and new product updates. The organic session will include crop nutrition management, soil health and updates on organic standards and requirements.

The Pacific Northwest Vegetable Association Annual Conference and Tradeshow will be held Nov. 20 and 21 at the Three Rivers Convention Center, 7016 W Grandridge Blvd, in Kennewick. For more information, visit pnva.org.

Rachal Pinkerton may be reached via email at rpinkerton@suntribunenews.com