An official website of the United States government.
<OL> <LI> Develop web-based tools supporting unified IPM<LI>Develop monitoring systems for key wheat pests<LI>Evaluate the effectiveness and economic benefits of seed treatments for suppressing regional and local pests<LI> Demonstrate the utility and economic benefits of the iWheat IPM program on producer farms<LI> Deliver the web-based iWheat program to wheat stakeholders in the CSP<LI> Document levels of awareness, and utilization of the iWheat program among wheat producers in the CSP. </OL>Expected Outputs and Deliverables.<ul> <LI> A web-based Pest Monitoring System for key wheat pests (arthropods, diseases and weeds) that provides easily accessible, user-friendly management tools. <LI> A Dynamic website database application for a pest monitoring network <LI> Glance n Go sampling system adapted for Russian wheat aphid. <LI> Refereed Scientific publications. <LI> Presentations at Scientific Meetings. <LI> Published survey of growers summarizing Knowledge change and or Behavior changes due to program. </ul>Year 1: Identify producer cooperators for demonstration sites and establish demonstrations. Collect initial data to include in web-site. <P>Year 1: Develop web-based database platform. <P>Years 1-2: Develop and conduct pre-survey of producers through NASS. <P>Years 1-4: Survey RWA populations from wheat fields in OK, KS, TX, NM, CO, UT, WY, ID WA and Characterize biotypes. Identify and establish H Fly monitoring fields in TX, OK and KS and set up pheromone traps, monitor weekly from October, November, March, May. Inspect plants for infestations Characterize H fly virulence/biotypes. Document annual distribution of wheat diseases in TX, OK, KS, NE, and CO. Identify problem weed populations, collect seeds and screen for herbicide resistance. <P>Year 1-4: Adapt Glance n Go form for Russian wheat aphid Develop RWA economic threshold calculator and other modules. Develop a cultivar selection module for RWA, GB and HF. Conduct in-field demonstrations on how to use Glance n Go for Russian wheat aphid. Evaluate adoption of sampling methods via pre-post evaluations at workshops. <P>Years1-4: Establish 4 locations to evaluate seed treatments for suppression of selected pests. Collect data, Analyze data, summarize Publish results, revise recommendations for use in website.<P>Years 2-4: Collect data from producer cooperator actions and enter into Database application. Evaluate economics of production systems. <P>Years 2-4: Develop maps (State and Regional) of current RWA biotype presence and composition and place on Wheat IPM Website. Place HF biotype information on Wheat IPM Website. Place wheat disease survey information on Wheat IPM Website. Develop problem weed distribution maps and place problem weed distribution maps on Wheat IPM Website. <P>Years 3-4: Provide e-mail with working link to website to county educators and cooperating growers Conduct webinar on how to use website. Hold a field day at cooperators fields where cooperators discuss website value. <P>Year 3-4: Activate and update website and maintain server. <P>Year 4: Conduct producer post-survey through NASS.
Non-Technical Summary: The purpose of our project is to develop and deliver a web-based reduced risk unified IPM program for winter wheat in the Central and Southern Plains. Building pest information and pest management decision-making into dynamic web-based applications that are applicable for all stakeholders throughout the Central and Southern Plains will increase adoption by wheat producers of proven reduced-risk pest management tools. The unified website for the region, referred to as iWheat, will incorporate novel pest management approaches: (1) knowledge based deployment of preventive IPM tactics such as host plant resistance, (2) unified Glance n Go aphid sampling schemes (Greenbug and Russian wheat aphid), and (3) integrated management of common local pests using reduced risk approaches. Our unified program incorporates stakeholder priorities, and delivers an IPM program dependent on Prevention, Monitoring, and Suppression that will allow producers to simultaneously evaluate and address management of multiple pests (insects, weeds, and pathogens). This proposed program is a critical step towards reducing current risks associated with wheat production that include misuse of pesticides, future loss of several broad-spectrum insecticides, loss of effective plant resistance to pests, and reduced effectiveness of herbicides. A unified, dynamic, web accessible pest management program for winter wheat in the Central and Southern plains is critical for long-term delivery of sustainable IPM approaches. <P> Approach: Investigators will develop a website (www.iwheat.org) with the ability to summarize geographically the occurrence, categorical abundance, and identity of pest species and biotypes/virulence strains (iWheat). We will expand the iWheat "ToolShed" to include existing and newly-developed decision support systems for wheat pests and wheat cultivar selection-tools and use the successful Glance n Go Sampling / Greenbug Decision Support System as a template to unify binomial sequential sampling methods for RWA and GB and expand the system to include wheat cultivar selection decisions. Investigators will incorporate infestation/disease monitoring systems for each of the pests/pathogens to provide timely, geographically referenced, graphical and textual information on developing pest/disease infestations/epidemics supplemented with information on management procedures for use in within growing season. Data sources to the system will be inputs by growers, crop consultants, and IPM professionals in the region. Infestation intensity data on RWA and GB in wheat fields will upload directly into iWheat, tagged with geographic location and date and other pertinent variables. We will utilize the pheromone lure from Pheronet (Alnarp, Sweden). Pheromone studies will be conducted at production wheat fields in north TX, central OK, and central KS each year of the project. The distribution of wheat rusts (stem rust, stripe rust, and leaf rust) will be monitored during the wheat growing season. Biotype Monitoring: Investigators will describe current information on RWA and HF biotypic structure and distribution in the CSP in order to make wheat variety or control recommendations to growers. Problem Weed Monitoring: Investigators will document the distribution of problem weeds in wheat systems throughout the CSP. Investigators will evaluate the effectiveness and economic benefits of seed treatments for suppression of regional and local pests by assessing the costs and benefits of an available product in production size plots on a regional basis so that informed decisions can be made as to where to use the technology. Investigators will demonstrate the utility and economic benefits of the iWheat IPM program on producer farms, and deliver the web-based iWheat program to wheat stakeholders in the CSP. Investigators will deliver a comprehensive version of iWheat prior to the beginning of the 3rd winter wheat growing season (2012/2013) for widespread use throughout the CSP. Investigators will document levels of awareness, and utilization of the iWheat program among wheat producers in the CSP. At the end of the 1st growing season (Summer 2011) and following the 4th growing season (Summer 2014) we will contract with the National Agricultural Statistics Service to document awareness and utilization of the unified iWheat IPM program among wheat producers in NE, CO, KS, OK, and TX. Investigators will work with Will Hundl, State Director NASS in OK to develop, administer and analyze data from these surveys. All sampling and data collection methods for objectives are based on established and published standards.