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In field crops, we will deliver highly targeted Extension education and training through specialized programs and electronic and print media for commercial pesticide applicators, certified crop advisors, independent crop consultants, county extension educators, and farmers. Annual Crop Management Workshops will be held the last week of January in 5 regions of Indiana. Over 900 commercial pesticide applicators are trained each year. Pesticide Applicator Recertification Programs are county-based meetings held throughout the year. Over 5000 of the 14,000 private applicators will be trained each year. Approximately 15 in-field, Diagnostic Training workshops will be held each year at a Purdue research farm. Over 800 CCA's will be trained at 2 day CCA conferences near Evansville and Indianapolis each year. Videos, less than 3 minutes each, will be used by specialists through appropriate means to convey IPM tenets: identification of pests and natural enemies, scouting techniques, economic thresholds, preventative measures and control tactics. These digital media will be stored and used to create an IPM library for future electronic projects. Surveys to determine how growers make decisions will provide us with data to adjust our delivery methods so that we can be more effective at changing the pesticide choices made by growers. We will develop a robust web based diagnostic system that can grow with the new information delivery technology for use by homeowners to diagnose pest problems. After one year of development, the prototype database will be operational and accessible via desktop, laptop and smartphone interfaces. The remaining plant problems will be populated by the end of the second year of the proposal. Tool development will be publicized in educational programs for Master Gardeners and members of the Green Industry. We expect to reach 10,000 individuals in these venues. We expect 20,000 hits on our website during the first year. As the site becomes more widely known, we expect more use, extending beyond the borders of Indiana. In specialty crop pest management, outputs will include workshops, field tours, and other events, annually revised recommendations, updated Extension bulletins, research publications, timely information delivered via newsletters and electronic bulletins, and pest alerts and updates delivered via newsletters and websites. Apple scouting videotapes will become part of a video library that will be available on the appropriate web sites, used in newsletter articles, and in presentations at workshops. Our general outcomes will be increased knowledge and adoption of IPM practices by fruit and vegetable growers. Specific outcomes include: organophosphate insecticides will constitute less than 25% of the total insecticide use on apples in Indiana by 2011; fall urea applications to reduce overwintering tissue for apple scab will increase from the current level of 43% to 75% of Indiana apple growers; fall flail mowing to reduce overwintering tissue for apple scab will increase from the current level of 29% to over 50% of Indiana apple growers.
<p>NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: <br/>People in all walks of life have to deal with pests and, therefore, have to make pest management decisions. Row crop farmers, who primarily grow corn and soybeans in Indiana, must deal with a number of pests that impact their yields, which in turn affects their profits. Because economic returns on corn and soybeans are not great on a per acre basis, farmers need to be sure to make wise management decisions. Fruit and vegetable growers have greater income per acre, but face greater pest related challenges because they have to worry about the quality and appearance of their crops in addition to yields. Homeowners are confronted with many pest related challenges in their yard and gardens and often do not have the knowledge or experience to properly diagnose the problem and arrive at a satisfactory management decision. The Purdue IPM program
addresses the educational needs of all these groups through the various types of publications, websites, and educational programs. Field crop producers will receive training in a number of formats, including intensive workshops and hands-on, in-field training. The goal is to help farmers remain profitable, while managing their pest problems in an environmentally friendly manner. Fruit and vegetable growers have many venues for interaction with Extension IPM specialists. Again, the goal is for the producers to remain profitable, but there is a greater emphasis on food safety since these products are eaten directly by people. For example, a class of relatively toxic insecticides known as the organophosphates has been the primary insecticides used on apples for many years. As recently as 1997, 85% of the insecticides used on apples in Indiana were organophosphates. One of the goals of this
project is to reduce that percentage to below 25% by 2014. In recognition that people obtain information differently than they did just a few years ago, we are proposing to develop applications for smartphones that will help homeowners identify and find solutions for their pest problems in their yards and gardens.
<p>APPROACH: <br/>In field crops, activities will include IPM classroom and in-field instruction programs, development of decision aids, and pest monitoring. We will develop video clips on pest management topics and gain an understanding of the pest managers' decision making process. Multiple evaluation tools will be used to assess IPM efforts and the user's knowledge gained and implementation of techniques. Remote audience response systems will be used where practical, and we will pay close attention to written evaluations in non-computer environments. On-line questionnaires will be use to evaluate the usefulness of Purdue Pest and Crop Newsletter. Similar surveys will be used to assess the value and determine program content for ongoing and new programs. In the consumer/urban area, we will create a database driven diagnostic tool to help clients diagnose problems and
direct them to appropriate management recommendations. Steps in the process will include identification of key problems and solutions, development of diagnostic tools, video and image library; database and delivery platform development; populating the delivery platform with diagnostic information; delivery of education programs and webinars to clientele groups. <p>For assessment, we will track the adoption of this tool by recording the number of uses and users, and repeat users over time. Monthly summaries will be generated by broad plant group and type of web interface device (desk or laptop vs. smart-phone) published and analyzed as part of the pest management graduate student's thesis activities. We will also survey clientele groups (Master Gardener, Green Industry) via survey monkey and other appropriate tools to estimate usage by clientele groups. Success of this project will also be
evaluated by adoption of these tools for other commodity groups in the IPM group. Specialty crop activities will include winter meetings for producers, crop consultants and county educators and a number of county based Extension meetings. In-season training activities will include statewide and local tours and field walks. Recommendations for vegetables and small and tree fruit are revised annually. Shorter Extension bulletins related to management of insects and diseases affecting fruits and vegetables are revised at least every 3 years. The fruit and vegetable newsletters provide growers with timely information about crop conditions, current and impending pest problems, pesticide regulatory actions, and upcoming events in an average of 10 editions each per year. In 2010, a project will be initiated to address the scab resistance and organophosphate transition issues, as well as other
IPM topics, with Indiana apple growers. Winter meetings will be assessed for increased awareness and knowledge through the use of remote audience response systems or with paper evaluation tools. An apple pesticide and pest management practice use survey will be conducted as a follow-up to previous surveys conducted in 1995 (Foster et al. 1997), 2002, and 2005 to determine if educational efforts have changed behavior. Additional surveys will help to determine if the educational programs proposed will help continue that trend.
<p>PROGRESS: 2011/09 TO 2012/08 <p>OUTPUTS: <br/>In Agronomic Crops, 248 educational IPM programs were conducted, reaching over 9852 farmers and agricultural professionals. All-day classroom meetings (i.e.,Crop Management Workshops with attendance of 931) and in-field trainings (i.e., Diagnostic Training Center Workshops with 569 participants) targeted key agribusiness personnel (e.g., commercial pesticide applicators, certified crop advisors, independent crop consultants, and county extension educators) with current and future IPM technologies, control strategies, and status of pest populations. These "pest managers" are usually the first point of contact for producers with pest problems that need help with selection of management tactics. Over 58,000 copies of the Corn & Soybean Field Guide were sold throughout the Midwest. Nearly 4280 copies of the Forage Field Guide were
sold. The Pest & Crop newsletter (published weekly with over 140,000 visits to the HTML versions, and 760,000 downloads of the PDF version) assisted pest managers in making real time economic risk assessments for pests and agronomic issues. Insect trapping programs were conducted with a series of 8 blacklight traps for a variety of insect pests, 40 cooperators participated in a black cutworm pheromone trapping program, 50 cooperators in a western bean cutworm trapping program, and 9 cooperators in a corn earworm trapping program. The results from these traps were reported in the newsletter. In addition, traps were established and monitored for the invasive brown marmorated stink bug in 13 sites. Regional and Purdue Extension web-based publications related to weed management and glyphosate resistance had almost 21,000 unique visitors. The Field Crops IPM website had 7968 unique visitors
with 20,893 page views. Close to 5,000 copies of the Weed Control Guide for Ohio and Indiana were sold. In Specialty Crops, 22 educational programs were conducted that reached 1788 growers. 405 copies of the Midwest Vegetable Production Guide were sold in Indiana, with total sales of 1300. 250 copies of the Tree Fruit Spray Guide were sold in Indiana. 300 copies of the Small Fruit and Grape Spray Guide were sold in Indiana, with total circulation of 4330. The Vegetable Crops Hotline newsletter had 140 hard copy and 275 electronic subscribers while the Facts for Fancy Fruit newsletter had 39 hardcopy and 412 electronic subscribers and the website was accessed over 20,000 times. The Vegetable Insect Management website had 10,670 unique visitors and over 15,500 pageviews. In Consumer/Urban IPM we developed the logical architecture and navigational links for an I-phone application prototype
for identification and management recommendations for pests of shade trees and shrubs. A web-based interface has been created to upload information to populate the prototype. This app is currently being field-tested and will be released later this summer. Sixty-eight pest management related videos, each lasting 1-3 minutes, were placed on YouTube and have had a total of 31,900 views. PARTICIPANTS: Ricky E. Foster: Project Director; fruit and vegetable entomologist William G. Johnson: Project CoDirector; agronomic crops weed scientist John Obermeyer: IPM specialist; agronomic crops entomologist; videographer Christian Krupke: Agronomic crops entomologist Daniel Egel: Vegetable pathologist Janna Beckerman: Fruit and ornamental pathologist Cliff Sadof: Ornamental entomologist Glenn Nice: Agronomic crops weed scientist Tammy Luck: preparation of newsletters and publications; web site
construction and maintenance Scott Koenig: graduate student; ornamental app development Adam Witte: graduate student; ornamental app development Kira Albright: undergraduate student; insect monitoring Gareth Powell: undergraduate student; insect identification from blacklight samples TARGET AUDIENCES: Farmers Pest management consultants County Extension educators Home owners/Master Gardeners Agricultural input suppliers PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
<p>PROGRESS: 2010/09/01 TO 2011/08/31 <p>OUTPUTS:<br/> In Agronomic Crops, 153 educational IPM programs were conducted, reaching over 5,381 farmers and agricultural professionals. All-day classroom meetings (i.e.,Crop Management Workshops with attendance of 968) and in-field trainings (i.e., Diagnostic Training Center Workshops with 75 participants) targeted key agribusiness personnel (e.g., commercial pesticide applicators, certified crop advisors, independent crop consultants, and county extension educators) with current and future IPM technologies, control strategies, and status of pest populations. These "pest managers" are usually the first point of contact for producers with pest problems that need help with selection of management tactics. Over 57,000 copies of the Corn & Soybean Field Guide were sold throughout the Midwest. Nearly 9000 copies of the Forage Field Guide
were sold. The Pest & Crop newsletter (published weekly with over 31,631 visits to the HTML versions, and 36,741 downloads of the PDF version) assisted pest managers in making real time economic risk assessments for pests and agronomic issues. Insect trapping programs were conducted with a series of 8 blacklight traps for a variety of insect pests, 40 cooperators participated in a black cutworm pheromone trapping program. The results from these traps were reported in the newsletter. A soybean disease monitoring program involving 12 Purdue Extension Educators was established to detect rust and other diseases of soybean. Regional Extension publications related to glyphosate resistance were downloaded over 11,000 times. The Field Crops IPM website had 3068 unique visitors with 8795 page views. In Specialty Crops, 32 educational programs were conducted that reached 2983 growers. 350 copies
of the Midwest Vegetable Production Guide were sold in Indiana, with total sales of 1395. 250 copies of the Tree Fruit Spray Guide were sold in Indiana. 400 copies of the Small Fruit and Grape Spray Guide were sold in Indiana, with total circulation of 4520. The Vegetable Crops Hotline newsletter had 140 hard copy and 275 electronic subscribers while the Facts for Fancy Fruit newsletter had 39 hardcopy and 364 electronic subscribers and the website was accessed over 20,000 times. The Vegetable Insect Management website had 3195 unique visitors and over 8000 page views. In Consumer/Urban IPM we developed the logical architecture and navigational links for an I-phone application prototype for identification and management recommendations for pests of shade trees and shrubs. A web-based interface has been created to upload information to populate the prototype. This app is on track for
completion by fall, 2011. Twenty-nine pest management related videos, each lasting 1-3 minutes, were placed on YouTube and have a total of 4540 views. <p>PARTICIPANTS: The Project Director, Ricky Foster, served as chair of NCERA 201 and hosted a meeting of that organization in Indianapolis is March, 2011. He was responsible for all the details of managing the grant, including distribution of funds, oversight of how funds were spent, and reporting. He supervised the IPM specialist (Obermeyer) and the IPM administrative assistant. He also provided educational programs about management of insects and mites in fruits and vegetables to commercial growers and homeowners. The co-Project Director, William Johnson, provided oversight for the project in the agronomic crops area. He was responsible for collecting reported data in that segment of the project. He also provided educational programs
regarding weed management in agronomic crops to farmers and pest managers. John Obermeyer edited the Pest & Crop newsletter, managed blacklight and pheromone trap networks, provided educational programs regarding insect management in agronomic crops to farmers and pest managers, served as photographer and videographer for all areas of IPM, and provided photos and videos for the smart phone application. Kierstin Wise provided educational programs on disease management to agronomic crop farmers and pest managers. Glenn Nice provided educational programs on weed management to agronomic crop farmers and pest managers. Cliff Sadof had primary responsibility for developing the smart phone application regarding management of insects and diseases of ornamental plants. He also provided educational programs regarding insect management of ornamental plants to commercial growers and homeowners.
Janna Beckerman assisted in the development of the smart phone application and provided educational programs regarding disease management of ornamental plants and fruit to commercial growers and homeowners.. Scott Koening is a graduate student whose project is to develop the smart phone application. David McClure is a programmer who developed the computer code for the smart phone application. Fred Whitford provided educational programs regarding pesticide use and safety to a wide variety of audiences. Dan Egel provided educational programs on disease management in vegetables to commercial growers and home owners. Tammy Luck is the administrative assistant who develops the Pest & Crop Newsletter and maintains IPM publications and websites. Kira Albright was an undergraduate student who performed insect trapping. Gareth Powell is an undergraduate student who sorted and identified insects
caught in blacklight traps. Collaborators include Indiana Certified Crop Advisors, Indiana Association of Independent Crop Consultants, Indiana Horticultural Society, and Indiana Vegetable Growers Association. Training was provided to homeowners, farmers, pest managers, and undergraduate and graduate students. TARGET AUDIENCES: Target audiences include farmers, pest managers, and homeowners. Efforts used to reach these audiences included formal presentations at workshops, newsletters, websites, publications, and hands-on training and clinics. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.