IPM Voice Newsletter                                                                                                            October 2014

USDA NIFA Announces $16 Million in Grants to Support IPM

On October 23 the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) announced the recipients of $16 million in grants to support coordinated research and extension efforts to address priority challenges. For the first time, awards were made through the Crop Protection and Pest Management program.

 

Grants were made in three categories: Regional Coordination, Applied Research and Development, and Extension Implementation. Four million dollars in Regional Coordination grants support the four regional IPM Centers for improved communication across states and IPM initiatives. Center grants went to University of California Davis, University of Illinois, North Carolina State University and Cornell.

 

Eighteen Applied Research and Development grants were made to fifteen institutions for the discovery, development and implementation of new and more effective IPM practices and technology, in agriculture and communities.  For example, the University of Arizona received two awards, one to address whitefly resistance to insecticides and a second to improve IPM systems in elder/disabled housing facilities. The University of Florida was awarded funds to demonstrate a new IPM system to address hydrilla, an invasive plant that clogs irrigation systems, flood-control channels and pumping stations and interferes with boating, fishing and swimming.

 

Finally, forty-nine Extension Implementation grants focus on increasing capacity of extension agencies to improve IPM implementation. Awards ranged from $32,500 to $289,000. For a complete list of grant recipients and descriptions of each program, visit NIFA's website.

Great Stink Bug Count Draws to a Close as Research Indicates Safer Strategies to Fight BMSB

From September 15 through October 15 the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Appalachian Fruit Research Station called upon citizens across the nation to log activity of the brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) in the second annual Great Stink Bug Count. The USDA hopes to learn more about the location and volume of stink bug populations through the US, as well as collecting behavioral data such as which house color attracts the most BMSB. Scientists speculate that populations may be down due to severe temperatures last winter; with luck, the "stink bug census" will confirm this hypothesis.

 

Meanwhile, researchers with IR-4 and USDA-ARS continue to investigate control methods for the BMSB that align with IPM. Current control methods generally involve the use of broad-spectrum chemicals with negative effects on beneficial insect and mite populations. Preliminary results indicate promising use of pheromones for monitoring populations and for concentrating BMSB in specific insecticide-treated locations within a crop to limit impacts on beneficials. Read more about these findings.

IPM for Extended Season Production

The days are steadily growing shorter and colder, but many farmers are still hard at work in greenhouses and hoop houses eking every possible moment out of the growing season to keep food production flowing. Indoor growth spaces present unique conditions for pests and IPM.

 

Biological pest controls can be especially valuable in enclosed production by allowing uninterrupted access and continuous harvest due to short reentry and pre-harvest intervals. For example, Trichoderma harzianum (RootshieldŽ) is used to inhibit root parasites like pythium in greenhouses and have an added benefit by augmenting root-zone health. Mike Bledsoe, representing greenhouse vegetable producer Village Farms, lists more helpful biologicals in his article in the IR-4 newsletter.

 

Twenty-three case studies from New York document success with beneficials in extended-season contexts. The Nile Delta wasp controlled whitefly pests on tomatoes, in some cases even eradicating what is perhaps the most significant pest threat for tomato production. This summer USDA Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education released a new fact sheet detailing Pest Management for Sustainable Season Extension that contains these and more IPM practices for indoor and covered growing spaces. 

IPM Voice Board to Convene in D.C.

Our volunteer board members will meet November 6 and 7 to further develop the organization's mission, activities and funding strategies. They will also meet with an expert on communicating scientific concepts to better understand strategies of conveying complicated topics included in  IPM. 

It's That Time of Year!

Renew your IPM Voice membership for 2015 (or become a new member) by visiting https://ipmvoice.org/join.htm

Upcoming IPM-Related Meetings and Conferences

November 10-12, 2014. Sustainable Agriculture ConferenceGreenville, SC

November 16-19, 2014Entomological Society of America Annual Meeting.  

Portland, OR

December 3-5, 2014. NPMA/PLANET Lawn Care Summit. Tampa, FL 

January 7-9, 2015. Global Bed Bug Summit. Denver, CO 

January 12-14, 2015. Purdue Pest Management Conference 2015. West Lafayette, IN 

January 14-16, 2015. IPM Innovation in Europe conferencePoznań, Poland

January 21-24, 2015. National Alliance of Independent Crop Consultants Annual MeetingReno, NV

March 23-26, 2015. Eighth International IPM SymposiumSalt Lake City, UT

IPM Voice is an independent, non-profit organization advocating for integrated pest management (IPM) that is genuinely progressive and seeks continuous improvement of environmental, social and economic conditions through application of accepted scientific principles.  IPM Voice was formed in 2010 by more than 35 professionals working to expand the benefits IPM has provided to agriculture and communities for more than 40 years.

IPM Voice, Inc. / 1020 Regent Street  Madison, Wisconsin 53715 / 608-232-1410 / www.ipmvoice.org