Nine working groups have recently been awarded 2015 grants from the North Central Integrated Pest Management Center (NCIPMC) totaling $159,574. The grants are funded by the United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA NIFA).
“The North Central IPM Center’s Working Groups Grants Program supports self-selected and self–directed activities that benefit the North Central region and frequently includes individuals in other regions or countries,” said Susan Ratcliffe, director of the NCIPMC. “These groups take a small amount of funding and tackle important IPM issues from farm to city.”
The NCIPMC includes 12 states in the north central region of the United States. The working groups are focusing on solving pest outbreaks in both agricultural and urban settings in the safest and most effective manner possible. Briefly, the working groups’ scope of work is outlined below. Click the link at the bottom for more information.
Joining forces: Midwest and Western Weather Work Groups for National Harmonization of Weather-based Decision Tools; Iowa State University, $20,000.
This group will integrate weather data to make weather-based IPM advisories available to specialty crop growers nationally.
Organic and IPM Working Group: Strengthening the Alliance; IPM Institute of North America, $15,458. Enhancing food security by building stronger alliances between organic and IPM systems is the goal of the Organic and IPM Working Group.
Public Tick IPM Working Group; IPM Institute of North America, $12,275. The Public Tick IPM Working group strives to reduce tick-borne disease by collaborating on IPM-related efforts that reduce the risk of tick exposure.
The Native American Integrated Pest Management/Invasive Species Management (IPM/ISM) Working Group; Fort Berthold Community College, $12,410. American Indian Tribal lands support diverse ecosystems where pest and invasive species management issues will be addressed by this working group.
Industrial and Commercial (IC) SCOPE: Improving IPM by Promoting Pest Prevention through Exclusion (IC) Food Handling Facilities; University of Minnesota, $20,000. This working group will explore preventing pest entry and routes to eliminate chronic infestations in food handling facilities.
North Central Consumer Horticultural IPM Working Group (CHWG); Regents of the University of Minnesota, $20,000. The horticultural working group has an aggressive agenda of seven objectives relating to IPM practices for landscapes and gardens across a broad audience including arboretum visitors, youth and Master Gardeners.
Sunflower Pathology Working Group 2015; North Dakota State University, $19,855. Disease is the significant biological yield-limiting factor in sunflower production but little research has been done and IPM recommendations are almost nonexistent – a situation this working group wants to turn around.
Pulse Crop Working Group; North Dakota State University, $19,576. Pulse crops are field pea, lentil and chickpea. The Pulse Crop Working Group plans to increase research in biotic disorders and raise awareness of pulse crop IPM practices.
Working Group on Invasive Plants in Trade; University of Wisconsin-Madison, $20,000. Ornamental invasive plants are a threat to natural resources, lawns and agricultural lands. This group will work with stakeholders to develop strategies to reduce their sale and explore sterile cultivars.
Working Group Grant recipients
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