Non Technical Summary
Rhode Island has many potential pest problems - including both well established and new exotic invasive species. Our goal is to reduce the impact of these species through improved IPM practices in Rhode Island and regionally. We plan to address critical needs of growers of specialty crops (fruits and nursery), land managers, and citizens throughout the state by assessing.potential pest problems and recommending, implementing, and evaluating pest management practices. Our primary programming objective is Community IPM and the secondary priority is IPM Implementation for Specialty Crops - fruits, vegetables and nursery crops. Our Secondary Emphasis Areas include: 1) IPM Support for Pollinator Health -providingRI stakeholders with current information on the best pollinator-friendly pest management practicesand 2)IPM support for Pest Diagnostics Facilities -managing and operating a Plant Diagnostic Laboratoryfor diagnosing pest problems and making recommendations for pest management.

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
216	1499	1130	50%
212	1499	1160	50%

Knowledge Area
212 - Pathogens and Nematodes Affecting Plants; 216 - Integrated Pest Management Systems;

Subject Of Investigation
1499 - Vegetables, general/other;

Field Of Science
1130 - Entomology and acarology; 1160 - Pathology;

Goals / Objectives
Our program has two primary priorities:IPM Implementation in Communities andIPM Implementation in Agronomic and/or Specialty Crops We also havetwo secondary priorities:IPM for Pollinator Health and IPM Support for Plant Pest Diagnostic Facilities.Our Community IPM program focuses on educating those who own and manage landscapes including lands that are protected from development. This is not to minimize our attention to conventional agriculture, indeed 2 of our 3 priorities address needs of producers, but it reflects the nature of our state and the needs of most of our stakeholders. This Community IPM Program has three major elements: 1) Landscape IPM Program and 2) Biological Control Implementation and Education Programs and 3) Urban Community Gardens IPM Program. The first element focuses on insects and plant pathogens, the second on insects and weeds, and the third on insects, pathogens, and weeds.The overall goal of the landscape IPM programis to facilitate effective, economical, and environmentally sound management of insect, disease, and weed pests of ornamental horticulture in Rhode Island. This program addresses the needs of homeowners and landscapers through educational programs - particularly for new pathogens and insects - and site visits.Our objective in landscape IPM educational programming is to ensure that our audiences are aware of current management techniques for new and existing pests.Our objective in biocontrol programming is to inform our clients and colleagues of new opportunities in classical biological control and to assist them in proper implementation.Biological control projects are particularly amenable to evaluation protocols as the process includes documented outcomes such as species establishment, natural enemy spread, reduced pest problems and associated effects on other components of the ecosystem because of natural enemy releases. Long-term outcomes and impacts include reduced need for pest control activities and attendant environmental and economic consequences because of successful biological control programs.Our objective in Urban Farm and Community Gardening programming is to educate RI urban farmers and community gardeners about pest identification and best practices for integrated pest management.Community gardens in Rhode Island face challenges such as access to water, land availability, funding, and pest pressure from insects, diseases, and weeds. Many farmers and organizations are working to address these issues and expand the reach of community gardens across the state. We plan to partner with organizations that support urban community gardens such as Southside Community Land Trust (SCLT), the African Alliance of Rhode Island, and the Northern Rhode Island Conservation District. Southside Community Land Trust has been developing and managing community gardens in urban areas of Rhode Island for over 40 years and currently owns or manages 60 community gardens and assists 30 farm businesses on SCLT land. Through various agriculture projects, URI has partnered with these organizations in the past and through this project we plan to increase our participation with these organizations.The objective of our Specialty Crops IPM program is to provide our existing and new growers with knowledge of IPM techniques for traditional and new pests as well as timely assistance in pest management decision making.Programming will be evaluated via one-on-one and group meetings with interactions with thefarming community. Annual surveys and a farmer advisory committee will also be used to evaluate the content and effectiveness of our programming. Our goal is to implement the best IPM practices available as new IPM programs are developed and refined to keep farms operating successfully.David Weisberger is the vegetable crops production specialist. He provides insect pest and plant pathogen management education and recommendations for growers through direct consultation during farm visits and, moving forward will include social media and blog posts. He works closely with Keiddy Urrea-Morawicki, URI's Plant Diagnostic Clinic director to help identify pest issues, including emerging threats such as allium leafminer, and with Rebecca Brown, to identify and test novel cultural practices including both tolerant and resistant crop varieties. His overarching goals are to promote the adoption of ecologically sound practices that emphasize cultural practices and sanitation to reduce pesticide load in the environment and improve the economic standing of farmers in the state. While RI is land-limited due to its size and development trajectory over time, there has been anincrease in the number of farms in the state over the past 5 years. These farms are almostentirely small (approx. 4 acres) and managed with limited synthetic inputs, including pesticide. Given this reality, the need for integrated pest management is imperative for farmers in the state.A goal of our IPM program is to teach these new growers about IPM, encouraging implementation in new orchards and market gardens.New farmers will be encouraged to join our IPM coordinating meetings to share their experiences and contribute to planning our IPM education and outreach activities, to ensure we are supporting new farmers.The objective of the IPM for Support of Pollinator Health programming is to provide RI stakeholders with current information on the best pollinator-friendly pest management practices.Rhode Island is becoming a state with a variety of resources on pollinators, pollinator diversity and efforts to promote pollinators and the public has an increasing interest in the protection of pollinators. Rebecca Brown conducts research on roadside pollinator habitat. She and her graduate students are working with RIDOT communications to develop a public education campaign about the value of roadsides as pollinator habitat. Lisa Tewksbury, Rebecca Brown and Keiddy Urrea-Morawicki will consult with URI colleague Steve Alm and his graduate students (https://web.uri.edu/beelab/), the new Rhode Island Pollinator Atlas coordinator for RI DEM (https://dem.ri.gov/fish-wildlife/conservation-research/drhode-island-pollinator-atlas), Rachel Bonoan's lab at Providence College (https://providencepollinators.com/) and the RI Beekeeper's Association (https://ribeekeeper.org/). We will utilize these resources (experts and published materials) to provide guidelines on pollinator identification, pollinator- friendly flowers, trees, and shrubs, as well as pollinator-friendly pest management practices. With the efforts of our staff and a summer pollinator intern, we will make this available to RI growers and gardeners throughout our Community IPM and Specialty crops IPM programs.The objective of the URI Plant Diagnostic Clinic is to identify samples for individuals and organizations involved in pest management.The URI Plant Diagnostic Clinic serves a myriad of stakeholders in the state of Rhode Island. The Clinic offers diagnoses on diseases, insects, weeds and other plant health concerns to growers, landscapers, nursery growers, master gardeners and the public. The Clinic supports the URI Master Gardener Program by providing backup support to the URI Gardening and Environmental Hotline, as well as the Core Training course. The hotline receives over 1700 emails and calls annually and a large percentage of them require consultation with the Clinic. The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RI DEM) relies on this clinic for identification of insect and disease samples in its Forest Health Program, Nursery Inspection program, and in the Cooperative Agricultural Pest Survey. The members of the Rhode Island Nursery and Landscape Association (RINLA) rely upon the clinic to provide accurate plant diagnostic services and IPM recommendations, and to contribute articles about plant health to their newsletter.

Project Methods
Methods for IPM Implementation in communities will include visits to commercial growers, making recommendations for integrated pest management methods through web sites, fact sheets, grower meetings, workshops, and news media. Other methods for this goal include training opportunities through Master Gardeners, RINLA training, Boots to Bushels and others.Evaluations of these programs will be accomplished through questionaires that adress both short-term and long-term impacts of their experiences.One major activity in our IPM for communities priorityis presenting educational programming to landscape managers including homeowners and professionals. These programs, planned through stakeholder processes described above, are offered by URI IPM staff, and supplemented by faculty from URI and other institutions, as needed. Master Gardener education is a primary venue for homeowner outreach, due to the varied connections of Master Gardener volunteers to the RI public. We annually present entomology, plant pathology and IPM information to 130 URI Master Gardeners, 40 Advanced Master Gardeners, and 40 Home Horticulture Certificate participants. In these programs we discuss the concepts of pest management, give an overview of tactics, address new and particularly serious pests, and provide online IPM resources. RI Master Gardeners and the gardening public are also provided with continuing education programs, including programs like "Vegetable IPM," "Diagnosing Plant Diseases," "Insect Identification," and "Biological Control Update."Over half of our insect pests and virtually all weeds are exotic to North America and many of these key pests are subjects of classical biological control programs. Biological control is highlighted as one of the foundations (if not the keystone) of successful IPM. We plan to continue collaborating with northeastern IPM coordinators to enhance implementation of effective biological control programs throughout the region. We hope to serve as brokers for both information and actual agents.The Urban Farm and Community Garden program will involve site-visits, pest walks, pollinator walks, workshops, and onsite pest and disease diagnostics demonstrations. Most of Rhode Island's urban growers do not speak English or are not proficient in English. Many growers speak Spanish or one of many African languages. Our IPM outreach will be delivered in Spanish, or as necessary we will work with our partnering organizations for translation expertise into other languages.Specialty crops IPM in RI includes tree fruit, small fruit, vegetables and nursery crops.Through decades of IPM programming, our tree fruit growers have adopted key IPM concepts so that they now maintain a high level of performance with less need for scouting, diagnostic, and educational support. There are four primary methods involved in the IPM implementation in fruits. The first is regional collaboration which provides RI fruit growers with access to Extension Educators from other New England states. The next is grower meetings, which includes both RI and regional meetings. Rhode Island and Massachusetts IPM programs currently hold joint in-person twilight meetings, attended by 30-50 growers from Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts. The meetings take place at local orchards and provide timely and up-to-date information pertinent to growing fruit trees in the Northeast. Besides sharing information, the twilight meeting format has an additional outcome: promoting interactions among growers.The third involves orchard scouting for common insect pests, as well as detecting new pests. And the final method involves communicating IPM management advice to growers through email lists and web site updates. This last is particularly important when new pests are detected, or new management advice is needed.With the arrival of the spotted wing drosophila (SWD) in RI in late summer of 2011, IPM of small fruit (specifically blueberries and raspberries) has become very challenging. This pest is devastating and requires extensive resources to properly monitor and advise grape, berry, and stone fruit growers. Lisa Tewksbury will join the spotted wing drosophila working group, replacing Heather Faubert after her 2024 retirement. This group conducts research and communicates management strategies for Northeast growers of blueberries and raspberries. One of the newest strategies that RI will participate in is the release and monitoring of parasitoids for management of SWD.A combination of activities will be implemented to support education and outreach around pest Management in vegetable crops. A series of summer field days will be held on farms from May through October in each year. The University of Rhode Island Agronomy Farm will also hold "twilight meetings" that will focus on pest identification and management. URI research on cultural approaches such as vegetable varietal selection, production methods that exclude or deter pests, biological control options and biopesticides will also be shared via twilight meetings and blog postings. Twice monthly blog postings will be hosted on the University of Rhode Island Cooperative Extension Website. This will also provide pest alerts gleaned from David Weisberger's participation in regional extension meetings and farmer feedback. Lastly, the blog will also highlight innovation management strategies employed by farmers in the state.Sweet corn is the leading vegetable crop in Rhode Island for acreage, and birds are a significant cause of crop loss. We will continue to work with growers to implement IPM strategies for bird control including lasers and improved bird distress call systems.We intend to also include messaging that emphasizes that pollinator-friendly best practices are compatible with conservation biological (IPM methods that maintain healthy natural enemies in farms, gardens, and natural areas).Keiddy Urrea-Morawicki will integrate a portion of the IPM pollinator educational programs into our program working with urban farms and community gardens and will supervise the pollinator intern to assist her in this task. We will aim to incorporate IPM practices that prioritize beneficial species and train farmers in the use of the most pollinator-friendly cultural, physical, and mechanical control methods for insects, diseases, and weeds. Throughout the summer, while conducting pollinator education programs, and assisting growers in identifying pollinators on their farms (pollinator walks), our undergraduate pollinator intern will assist in adding to the checklist of Rhode Island bees being compiled by Steve Alm's lab.The University of RI IPM Diagnostic clinic diagnoses insect, disease, weed, and cultural plant problems for commercial growers, commercial landscape managers, and homeowners. In addition to the diagnosis, the submitter of the specimen or photo for identification also receives a recommendation for proper management of the problem.In recent years, the URI Diagnostic Clinic has averaged over 400 samples annually requesting identification and recommendations. These include samples collected during on-farm site visits, requests to assist the URI Gardening and Environmental Hotline volunteers, RI DEM, landscapers, and the public. Clinic clients are approximately evenly divided among commercial growers, professional landscape managers, DEM inspectors, and the public. They all look to URI as the only source of complete plant diagnostic services in the state.