Source: RUTGERS, THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY submitted to NRP
IMPLEMENTATION OF IPM IN NEW JERSEY
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
ACTIVE
Funding Source
OTHER GRANTS
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1033046
Grant No.
2024-70006-43509
Cumulative Award Amt.
$187,685.00
Proposal No.
2024-03457
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Sep 1, 2024
Project End Date
Aug 31, 2025
Grant Year
2024
Program Code
[EIP]- Extension Implementation Program
Recipient Organization
RUTGERS, THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY
3 RUTGERS PLZA
NEW BRUNSWICK,NJ 08901-8559
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
This proposal addresses IPM needs in Specialty Crops, Communities including Housing and Schools, Animal Agriculture, Pollinator Health, Pest Diagnostic Facilities, and Public Health. The Specialty Crops goals are to conduct basic IPM presentations to ornamental growers at a variety of statewide meetings, survey these growers about their current pest management practices, provide hands-on IPM training to these growers, and conduct follow-up visits with these growers receiving hands training to monitor their on-going adoption of IPM. The Animal Agriculture goals are to identify the presence of Theileria orientalis in livestock, enhance awareness among NJ livestock producers about tick-borne diseases in cattle, and increase engagement of stakeholders in the surveillance and management of T. orientalis. The IPM in Communities goals are to investigate current pest control practices impacts on pest infestations, deliver training to low-income housing staff to increase the adoption of IPM, and compare the effectiveness of two resident education strategies in low-income communities. The Pollinator Health goals are to develop a non-destructive method for assessing bee queen health and enhanced decision-making for beekeepers in selecting healthy queens for breeding. The Pest Diagnostic Facilities goals are to provide diagnostic services to the public, state and federal agencies, commercial/agricultural stakeholders, and university researchers. The Public Health goals are to increase knowledge regarding tick surveillance and control, establish a statewide database tracking tick distributions and incidences of tick-transmitted pathogens, enhance community engagement through citizen science participation, and develop innovative control approaches for tick and mosquito populations.
Animal Health Component
50%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
50%
Applied
50%
Developmental
0%
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
21601201060100%
Knowledge Area
216 - Integrated Pest Management Systems;

Subject Of Investigation
0120 - Land;

Field Of Science
1060 - Biology (whole systems);
Goals / Objectives
This proposal addresses IPM needs in Specialty Crops, Communities including Housing and Schools, Animal Agriculture, Pollinator Health, Pest Diagnostic Facilities, and Public Health. Specific goals include:Providingbasic and advanced IPM education in the form of presentations and hands on training to ornamentmental growers.Identify the presence of Theileria orientalis in livestock andenhance awareness among NJ livestock producers about tick-borne diseases in cattle.Investigate current pest control practices impacts on pest infestations in low-income housing, deliver training to low-income housing staff, and compare the effectiveness of two resident education strategies in low-income communities.The Pollinator Health goals are to develop a non-destructive method for assessing bee queen health and enhanced decision-making for beekeepers in selecting healthy queens for breeding.The Pest Diagnostic Facilities goals are to provide diagnostic services to the public, state and federal agencies, commercial/agricultural stakeholders, and university researchers.Increase public knowledge regarding tick surveillance and control, create astatewide database tracking the presence of ticksand the incidenceof tick-transmitted pathogens in New Jersey, enhance community engagement, and develop innovative control approaches for tick and mosquito populations.
Project Methods
Specialty Crops:Extension Agents and staff will:Deliver educational presentations on IPM Principles to a broad audience of ornamental growers at trade shows and industry events such as, the NJ State Agricultural Convention, the NJ Green Expo, NJNLA Total Pro Expo, NJLCA Landscape Trade Show, and the Central Jersey Turf and Ornamental Institute. These presentations will provide basic education on IPM practices to participants and will offer them an opportunity to sign up for additional hands-on Extension IPM training of their staff at their operation.Distribute a survey for growers to determine which pests are most common and most costly for ornamental producers in NJ. Information collected will include what materials they are using for controls, what their costs are for control/losses due to these pests, and what resources are most needed from the Rutgers Ornamental IPM program.Visit at least 50 ornamental crop producing operations throughout the state (northern, central, and southern regions) to train the staff on hands-on IPM monitoring and best management practices that are tailored for their specific operation. Each site will receive a minimum of three educational visits and will have continued access to Extension agents and staff via phone and email communications.Training on the use of traps (sticky, pheromone, etc.) and how to monitor pest populations, recognizing threshold levels and when to take action. RCE will work with the growers to set up their traps, develop a monitoring system, and train staff to identify key pests.Mid-season check in and monitoring to address any issues they may be experiencing.End of season check in to evaluate efficacy of control methods.The RCE IPM team will follow up with each site in subsequent years to ensure they keep up with the program, to provide technical assistance, and to monitor changes in pesticide use by reviewing spray records.Animal Health:We willconducthighly sensitive state-of-the-art DNA-based tests on blood samples from NJ livestock. using asmall drop of blood obtained during routine veterinary care. All results (positive or otherwise) will be provided to the submitting farmers and will be accompanied by supporting information to address containment and possible spread. This is exploratory activity will be done byreaching out to livestock producers with the help of Dr. Tess Stahl, Assistant Professor and Livestock and Dairy Extension Specialist with Rutgers University. We will prepare brochures in multiple languages with information on tick-borne diseases in cattle. We willalso preparing brochures with information about tick-borne diseases in companion animals.Pollinator Health: We will offer PCR andqPCR) test to bee keepers to detect bee viruses in their honey bee queens. Thesepathogen screenswill provide a non-destructive method to assess queen health which is critical for beekeepers aiming to produce high-quality daughter queens for sale and colony requeening. This will accomplished by testing "stand-in materials" such as queen fecal matter, colony pollen stores, Royal Jelly, and hive swabs for the presence and titer of key bee viruses (DWV, IAPV, BQCV) and Varroa destructor. We aim first to optimize qPCR assays, assess assay specificity, and develop metagenomic analyses for comprehensive virus detection.Plant Diagnostic Services:This money will be used to cover a portion of the costs of one technical employee who is trained to perform basic diagnostic tasks including fungal culturing, insect identifications, ELISA, PCR, and other common tasks associated with insect pest and disease diagnostics. The technician will train in SOP's for pests and diseases of concern in our region in USDA programs, in the RU Lab, or in collaboration with other labs within the NEPDN region. In an effort to train the next generation of plant diagnosticians, government regulators, and IPM specialists, the technician will also participate in the training of graduate student interns, undergraduate students, NPDN First Detectors, and Master Gardener volunteers.Low Income Housing:We will conduct a survey of housing authority staff to understand the current pest control practices and impact of Covid-19 on pests and pest control practices This survey will answer the following questions: 1) Did Covid-19 have significant impact on number of pest complaints; 2) Did Covid-19 cause disruptions in pest control services?; 3) For contracted pest control services, what elements can be revised in order to increase the adoption of IPM? We aim to obtain 200 completed interviews in collaboration with extension entomologists from Arizona, Florida, Indiana, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.We will also deliver training and continuous assistance to low-income housing staff to increase the adoption of IPM in low-income communities. We will aim to reach out to at least 15 of these communities. For each community, we will first conduct a pest inspection and apartment condition inspection to selected buildings to obtain information on pest prevalence and structural defects. Environmental conditions that are conducive to pest infestations are recorded. Resident interviews will also be conducted if residents are home during inspection. Based on the pest monitoring results and apartment inspection findings, we will then provide educational materials and on-site or remote training to housing staff focusing on pest prevention, non-chemical methods to control pests, and safe use of pesticides and IPM. We will also review the IPM check-point list for property management based on the building-wide pest inspection. We will make recommendations to housing managers on building maintenance and revising pest related policies (lease, pest control contract, pest monitoring, record keeping).Finally, we willcompare the effectiveness of two resident education strategies. We will compare two types of resident education approaches. Type A provides both brief verbal education, IPM kit, and written educational materials. Type B only provides written brochures about IPM. They represent two levels of education. Each type of education will be conducted in one senior site (a high-rise apartment building) and a family site (low-rise apartment buildings). We will divide the residents into two groups based on the floor they reside. Those from odd floor numbers will receive type A education. We will conduct resident interview; complete and discuss the apartment IPM check-point listwith the residents; explain what they are doing well and simple steps they can take to eliminate/reduce conditions that promote pest activity; provide and quickly review of the written educational material; and explain basic housekeeping activities to reduce/prevent the occurrence of cockroaches, bed bugs, and rodents. We will also give an IPM kit which includes glue boards, Climbup interceptors (for monitoring bed bugs), plastic zippered mattress encasement and pest id cards for cockroach, bed bug, and mice, and instructions for use of the contents. Residents from even floor numbers will receive type B education. We will leave written educational materials in a prominent location in the apartment or hand-deliver to the residents if they are home.

Progress 09/01/24 to 08/31/25

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audiences for this project are pest control operators working in urban housing complexes, agricultural producers, bee keepers, landscapers, golf course superintendents, staff and residents in low-income communities located in New Jersey, and the general public. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?1. The IPM in Specialty Crop group provided training to 435 ornamental workers and nurserymen. 2. TheCommunities including Housing and Schools group provided training to housing staff and resident at 13 residential communities in New Jersey. 3. TheIPM Support for Pest Diagnostic Facilities group provided training tograduate student interns, undergraduate students, NPDN First Detectors, Master Gardener volunteers, and other green industry stakeholders (growers, managers, applicators). 4. The IPM for Public Health group conducted two"Train the Teacher" workshops on ticks to 37 Rutgers Master Gardeners. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Information developed by the various grops was distributed via websites, in person and acynchrous training, and the distribution of multilingual tick based flyers, brochures, and ID cards. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?IPM in Specialty Crops (William Errickson and Tim Waller) Hire support staff to assist with the development of IPM resources and program coordination. Provide an option for growers to acquire clearwing borer pheromone traps, three types of sticky tape for scale crawler emergence, yellow sticky cards to monitor the flight of multiple insects, and hand lenses. Provide Ornamental IPM based - Plant and Pest Advisory posts to provide timely preseason information and biweekly during the growing season to over 1,000 recipients. Continue to develop a website: The "Rutgers Ornamental IPM Program" that will serve as a repository for recorded webinars and PDFs, pest and disease profiles, and future IPM tools. Conduct a late season 'Twilight Meeting' in cooperation with the NJ Nursery and Landscape Association focusing on using IPM tools, hands-on pest and disease ID and discussions surrounding the program progress. Distribute an evaluation survey for the 2025 Ornamental IPM webinar series to the webinar participants. Develop an IPM needs survey for the broader ornamental industries of New Jersey. Communities including Housing and Schools (Changlu Wang) Deliver training and continuous assistance to low-income housing staff to increase the adoption of IPM in low-income communities. Provide on-site IPM training of housing staff to approximately 8 new housing authorities. Conduct pest inspections at each of the housing agencies that received IPM training. Assist housing agencies in setting up new pest control contracts and revising their pest control contracts, pest monitoring, and record keeping. Assist in housing staff in identifying repair needs and how to properly seal the building for pest prevention. Evaluate IPM adoption and effectiveness of resident education. IPM in Animal Health (Dina Fonseca) Hire support staff and work with NJ Department of Agriculture to figure out best way to proceed to determine the extent of the problem ofTheileria orientalisIkeda in NJ. IPM for Pollinator Health (Dina Fonseca) Use optimized tests for virus infecting bees to test bees with unknown infection status [experimental setup developed in collaboration with Mike Haberland]. Develop more collaborations with Apiculture stakeholders across NJ. IPM Support for Pest Diagnostic Facilities (Richard Buckley) Hire one technical employee trained to perform basic diagnostic tasks associated with insect pest and disease diagnostics. Train the technician in SOP's for pests and diseases of concern in our region in USDA programs, in the RU Lab, or in collaboration with other labs within the NEPDN region. Participate in the training of graduate student interns, undergraduate students, NPDN First Detectors, and Master Gardener volunteers. Provide training about regional pests and diseases of concern at New Jersey Green Expo and additional state and regional stakeholder conferences and meetings. Provide training regarding IPM topics in lawns and landscapes in at least one undergraduate/graduate level course. Update training presentations as necessary to include the most up-to-date research regarding plant insect pests and diseases of concern. IPM for Public Health (Dina Fonseca) Develop course in "Mosquito Surveillance and Management" to be available November 2025. Continue growing the NJTicks4Science! By reaching out to Rutgers Cooperative Extension - Train-the-trainer" workshops. Offer Course 1"Mosquito Biology, Ecology, and Habitat Recognition" again in January 2026. Keep the NJTicks4Science is growing - we had about the same number of submissions in 2025 so far as we had in 2022-2024 combined. Update NJTicks4Science! Webpage to increase speed and resolve ongoing issues. Create and update tick facts sheets; add a "how to remove a tick" factsheet. Publish manuscript in preparation summarizing data on tick distribution and disease agent prevalence across NJ - from NJTicks4Science! Develop surveys through the NJTicks4Science! Website to assess how New Jerseyans are reacting to the information provided.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Implementation IPM Specialty Crops - Ornamental IPM (William Errickson & Timothy Waller) Hired 2 support staff to assist with the development of IPM resources and program coordination. Developed and presented a "IPM Essentials for Ornamentals" training module at 5 nursery/ornamental events (435 participants). Developed and held two "In-Person" Nursery Round Table Discussions with 21 participants on "Hands on Growing Degree-days" and "2025 Playbook" that focused on key repeating IPM issues. Developed and held "In-Person" and asynchronous a 12-part 60 minute webinars focusing on timely and relevant IPM topics for ornamental growers. This program has been picked up by Cornell University, Ohio State University, and Penn State University. Provided an option for growers to acquire clearwing borer pheromone traps, three types of sticky tape for scale crawler emergence, yellow sticky cards to monitor the flight of multiple insects, and hand lenses. Provided Ornamental IPM based - Plant and Pest Advisory posts to provide timely information pre-season and biweekly during the growing season to over 1,000 recipients. Communities including Housing and Schools (Changlu Wang) Provided on-site IPM training of housing staff and residents of 13 communities from two housing authorities in New Jersey including: Paterson Housing Authority and Newark Housing Authority. The one-hour long seminar was followed by a short survey on existing pest concerns, pest control methods, and suggestions. These surveys will be combined with previous surveys and those from collaborators in New York state to evaluate the effectiveness of training and residents' attitudes about pests. More training sessions will be scheduled during the next three-month period. We conducted pest inspections in the common areas of the buildings and representative apartments. We provided recommendations to the management on pest prevention and control based on the inspection results and residents' comments. We provided consultation to six housing authorities (Asbury Park, Linden, New Brunswick, Newark, Paterson, Trenton) on how to revise the pest control contracts to ensure the contractors' service is effective and meets the expectations of the staff and residents. As a result of our recommendations, these housing authorities made changes to their contract terms. IPM for Pollinator Health (Dina Fonseca) Hired one technical employee (student) trained to perform basic diagnostic tasks associated with insect pest and disease diagnostics. Obtained bees exhibiting signs of infection with deformed wing virus (DWV) and black queen cell virus (BWCV) Started proof of concept tests of "stand-in materials" such as the queen's fecal matter, colony pollen stores and Royal Jelly for the presence and titer of DWV and BQCV. Plans are underway using hive swabs to test for the presence of viruses and Varroa destructor, using eDNA (i.e., environmental DNA) techniques. Will be developing an assay to assess the presence, titer, and virulence levels of bee viruses in queen bees without killing them allowing bee keepers to make informed decisions about which queens to keep. IPM Support for Pest Diagnostic Facilities (Richard Buckley) Hired one technical employee (student) trained to perform basic diagnostic tasks associated with insect pest and disease diagnostics. Trained the technician in SOPs for pests and diseases of concern to USDA programs, in the RU Lab, or in collaboration with other labs within the NEPDN region and incorporated new diagnostic protocols/techniques/technologies as they became available. Trained graduate student interns, undergraduate students, NPDN First Detectors, Master Gardener volunteers, and other green industry stakeholders (growers, managers, applicators). Processed plant, insect, and/or soil samples to diagnose disease problems, conduct nematode assays, and identify insect and weed pest identification. IPM for Public Health (Dina Fonseca) Developed the NJTicks4Science! website which allows anonymous email follow-up with submitters. Developed and distributed ~10,000?tick tri-fold brochures, ~5,000 flyers, ~5,000 tick cards in English, ~1,500 tick cards in Spanish and hundreds of tick cards in Portuguese (Portugal as well as Brazil, as the word "tick" differs between the two versions) to Rutgers County Extension (RCE) offices across NJ. Developed "The Tick Talk" a slide deck with basic information about ticks, tick-transmitted disease agents and strategies to avoid and address tick bites. We have developed and delivered a "Train the Teacher" workshop targeting Rutgers Master Gardeners with ~ 37 registered attendees that came to both sessions. Established a statewide database tracking tick distributions and incidences of tick-transmitted pathogens. IPM for Animal Health (Dina Fonseca) Reached out to stakeholders through Rutgers Cooperative Extension Contributed materials to a stakeholder newsletter. Reported on the first detected positive T. orientalis Ikeda case in a NJ cattle - https://plant-pest-advisory.rutgers.edu/theileria-orientalis-ikeda-livestock/ Working with the NJ Department of Agriculture to determine assess the spread of T. orient in NJ. Are preparing brochures in multiple languages with information on other tick-borne diseases in cattle, a topic not often considered in NJ.

Publications