1999 Use Statistics for Virginia Fruit Page


The Virginia Fruit Home Page received 12,409 visits from January through December 1999, based on numbers acquired from the Department of Entomology server for actual requests (not in-page counters). This represents an approximate doubling of use from 1998 (which also reflected a doubling from the previous year, 1997). But visits to the home page itself represents only the tip of the iceburg. Altogether there were 200,915 visits to pages within this web site in 1999, up from 95,115 in 1998.

Of the fruit crops represented in the Virginia Fruit Page, the Apple Page received the most use (5,270 visits), followed by the Grape site (4,618 visits) and Peach Page (3,493 visits), Small Fruit (2,487 visits) and finally Pear Pages (2,155 visits).

Within the Apple Page, biological information on pests, predators and bees received much interest. The Apple IPM page received 2,283 visits, Direct Pests 794 visits, Indirect Pests 648 visits, and Orchard Predators 534 visits. This provides a complement to the West Virginia page, which has an emphasis on disease management.

The site is used by both commercial and home fruit producers, reflected by use statistics for pages based on Virginia Tech pest management recommendations. There were 12,572 visits to pages associated with the Spray Bulletin for Commercial Tree Fruit Growers (34% Apple, 26% Stone Fruit, 14% Cherry, 13% Pear, 13% Plum), 4,208 visits to pages associated with the Spray Guide for Commercial Vineyards, 4,275 visits to pages associated with the Spray Guide for Commercial Small Fruit (54% Strawberry, 30% Caneberry, 16% Blueberry), and 13,905 visits to pages associated with the Spray Guide for Home Fruit (27% Apple and Pear, 22% Grape, 15% Stone Fruit, 17% Blueberry, 10% Caneberry, 9% Strawberry).

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