Recipient Organization
VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE
(N/A)
BLACKSBURG,VA 24061
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Agriculture is Virginia's largest private industry, adding approximately $82.3 billion annually to the state's economy and providing more than 381,800 jobs. The state's agricultural commodity mix is one of the most diverse in the nation. Major commodity sectors addressed in this proposal include both agronomic and specialty crops, which when combined comprise one-third of Virginia's farm cash receipts. Despite the value and growth of these commodity sectors, significant pest management challenges threaten the profitability and sustainability of Virginia agriculture. Problems with a diverse and ever-changing array of native and invasive pest species pose a continuing challenge, and educational programs are needed to shift growers away from prophylactic use of pesticides and toward adoption of IPM. In addition, improving the health and sustainability of managed and wild pollinator populations and their pollination services is another increasing priority in Virginia. Development and delivery of coordinated educational programs targeting youth, beekeepers, producers, and pesticide applicators is needed to ensure that good stewardship practices are followed and responsible pest management practices are implemented to preserve pollinator health. Apart from agricultural pests, the growing presence of bed bugs presents specific challenges for vulnerable populations in Virginia, including the elderly, underserved communities, and individuals with low income. Bed bug infestations have emerged as a significant issue, compounding difficulties for these groups. Addressing the challenges posed by the increasing prevalence of bed bugs requires targeted efforts and support systems to ensure the health and living conditions of these vulnerable populations are safeguarded.Specific activities for this project fall into four key priority areas and include: 1) IPM Implementation in Agronomic and Specialty Crops (IPM train-the-trainer workshop, development and dissemination of coordinated regional evaluation surveys, corn earworm resistance monitoring, promoting IPM-based decisions in protected systems, and improving IPM for the nursery and floriculture industries.), 2) IPM Implementation in Communities Including Housing and Schools (community bed bug IPM training program, and promoting IPM-based decisions in community gardens), 3) IPM for Pollinator Health (promoting IPM for managed pollinators, and using on-farm demonstrations to promote pollinator health), and 4) IPM Support for Pest Diagnostic Facilities.Project activities provide a critical foundation to address the important local, state, and national IPM goals of increasing adoption, implementation, and efficiency of economical pest management practices while minimizing potential risks to human health and the environment. With training and continued exposure, clientele can be encouraged to adopt new and/or more effective practices to improve pest management programs while decreasing reliance on broad-spectrum pesticides. Resources and information developed from this project will be delivered in a variety of formats to a diversity of clientele at all levels of participation, including growers, pest managers, crop consultants, and beekeepers among others.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
The overall goals of this project proposal are: 1) educate clientele in the economic, health and environmental benefits of transitioning to proven IPM practices, 2) improve adoption and implementation of higher level IPM practices, 3) develop and extend strategies that reduce or minimize the risks of chemical inputs while providing economic, health, and environmental benefits, 4) facilitate IPM information exchange among Extension educators, clientele, and other partners, and 5) document the impacts and outcomes of IPM adoption in relevant priority areas and evaluate program success. Specific objectives for the project include: 1) initiation of an IPM train-the-trainer workshop, 2) dissemination of coordinated regional evaluation surveys, 3) corn earworm resistance monitoring, 4) promoting IPM-based decisions in protected systems, 5) improving IPM for the nursery and floriculture industries, 6), initiation of a community bed bug IPM training program, 7) promoting IPM-based decisions in community gardens, 8) promoting IPM for managed pollinators and pollinator health and 9) provide support for pest diagnostic facilities.
Project Methods
The IPM Coordinator and Co-PDs will work to coordinate state level programming, and disseminate results and outcomes for each of the primary and secondary priority areas of the project through various Extension and outreach activities. Surveys, questionnaires, pre-/post-tests, and other methods will be used to gather information about knowledge gained, impacts of growers' IPM practices, and deficiencies in programming. The general evaluation plan for project activities will include four major elements: 1) Collection of output information (e.g. number of workshops/educational meetings hosted, number of people trained, number and type of reports, articles, and other information distributed, websites and other media outlets developed), 2) Documentation of short-term outcomes (learning), measured by pre-/post-tests, retrospective questionnaires, and interviews, 3) Documentation of medium-term outcomes (changes in behavior), measured by pesticide record keeping logs, follow-up surveys, and interviews, and 4) Documentation of long-term outcomes (conditions) primarily by comparison of records collected at the beginning of the project with records collected at the end of the project.