Recipient Organization
CORNELL UNIVERSITY
(N/A)
ITHACA,NY 14853
Performing Department
Cooperative Extension
Non Technical Summary
Biological control as a method of insect pest management has been used successfully in the greenhouse vegetable industry in Europe and Canada for many years. In the last 5 years, the interest in biological control has increased throughout the greenhouse floriculture industry in the United States. Trade journals that serve this industry run articles on aspects of biological control in almost every issue. This is the result of the loss of effective pesticides, development of insecticide resistance, interest from growers on reducing workers potential pesticide exposure, and demand from consumers for products, including ornamentals, with fewer pesticide residues. In recent New York State surveys of growers attending greenhouse IPM programs, 20-30% indicated that they would like to initiate biological control programs in their greenhouses. While this percentage may seem low, for a new technology in the range of early adopters, it is relatively high. Because biological control involves the integration of 3 biological systems - pest, host plant, and biological control agent - and the environment in which they interact, it is a complex management system. Successful use of biological control, therefore, requires significant information resources. In addition, biological control must be integrated into the existing systems of cultural and physical pest management, and in some cases, chemical control as well. Thus the need for real-time information is critical, especially for growers new to biocontrol. As biocontrol is a relatively new management system for greenhouse ornamentals, innovations become available almost continuously. The dilemma is how to get this information to growers as quickly as possible. While hands-on courses or presentations, fact sheets, and webpages for providing biological control training have been used with success throughout the Northeast, an information management system that is easily updated and available when and where growers need it is increasingly necessary. The Extension and outreach goals of this project are to: 1) create a mobile application (app) for handheld devices using the three major mobile phone platforms (iPhone, Blackberry, Android) that provides real-time on-demand information and management tools for biological control of the primary floriculture greenhouse pests, with input from growers, 2) demonstrate its use to greenhouse growers in the Northeast as an information management system and means of providing technical assistance on biological control for greenhouse pest management, and 3) extend the application information to a wider audience of greenhouse growers in the Northeast and nation-wide.
Animal Health Component
100%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
100%
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
The Extension and outreach goals of this project are to: 1) create a mobile application (app) for handheld devices using the three major mobile phone platforms (iPhone, Blackberry, Android) that provides real-time on-demand information and management tools for biological control of the primary floriculture greenhouse pests, with input from growers, 2) demonstrate its use to greenhouse growers in the Northeast as an information management system and means of providing technical assistance on biological control for greenhouse pest management, and 3) extend the application information to a wider audience of greenhouse growers in the Northeast and nation-wide. The primary output/deliverable for this project is the completed and evaluated mobile application technology. Additional information gained from the process and the evaluations will include: 1) usage statistics for mobile application technology use by, and direct reports from, greenhouse growers to help determine if we should continue to develop such technology for increasing implementation of other IPM practices; 2) additional information from growers implementing biocontrol to create updates for the mobile app; 3) background for the use of mobile application technology to improve scouting and record keeping as a basis for IPM in general,; and 4) potential for use of mobile application technology as a conduit for two-way communication between growers and Extension educators. The ultimate outcome of this project is to reduce the number of pesticide applications necessary to produce high quality ornamentals through increasing the number of greenhouse growers successfully using biological control as part of their IPM plans. The following milestones are included in this project: Develop application - November 1, 2011-December 31, 2011 Beta test application and demonstrate application through training programs in the Northeast - January 1, 2012 - March 31, 2012 Update application based on beta testing and evaluations from training programs - April 1, 2012 - August 31, 2012 Advertise and distribute application in region and on a wider basis, continue to train growers and educators - September 1, 2012 - October 31, 2012
Project Methods
Working with a mobile technology company, we will create a mobile application with biological control information developed through other projects. The application will allow growers to choose a pest and move through pages that will include photographs and information on pest life cycle, effects of environment on the pest, specific crop information, and beneficials which control that pest. Beneficial pages will include photographs and information on life cycle of the beneficial, effects of environment on the beneficial, application methods, application rates, and interaction with pesticides. Additional pages will include general information such as links to other sources, and scouting resources. The technology included in the application will include: native applications written directly for the 3 major smartphone platforms, text and photograph capability; a content management system for ease of updating; using RSS (Really Simple Synchronization) to alert users of updates; the ability to link to outside information using RSS; the potential for interactive use including data entry with graphing potential, photographs taken and stored as part of reports; use of integrated measurement of environmental factors as available on device to include with reports; and potential for use of QR (quick response) codes to simplify location identification for scouting. After growers provide their assessments of its utility, the application will be updated and improved. We will evaluate the use of the mobile application by greenhouse growers in the Northeast as an information management system and means of providing technical assistance on biological control for greenhouse pest management. Several growers in each participating state who are using biocontrol in their greenhouses will evaluate the initial app to determine its usefulness and ease of use. The app will also be introduced to growers through bedding plant schools, or similar venues, throughout the region. The growers will be given an opportunity to evaluate the application during these demonstrations. We will develop a method to advertise the application and to distribute it to growers in the Northeast and beyond through mailings to grower organizations, articles published in national trade journals, and presentations at national meetings. Results will be evaluated through usage statistics for mobile application technology use by, and direct reports from, greenhouse growers to help determine if we should continue to develop such technology for increasing implementation of other IPM practices; additional information from growers implementing biocontrol to create updates for the mobile app; background for the use of mobile application technology to improve scouting and record keeping as a basis for IPM in general; and potential for use of mobile application technology as a conduit for two-way communication between growers and Extension educators.