New Applied Research & Development Grants Stress Regional Priorities and Collaboration

The USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture's new Crop Protection and Pest Management request for proposals has several important changes that affect IPM researchers in the West.

For one, Regional IPM grants have been replaced by a new Applied Research and Development Program designed to support projects from single or multiple investigators for the development of new IPM tactics, technologies, practices and strategies. Unlike the RIPM grants, proposals submitted under the new program are evaluated by a single review panel in  Washington, D.C. and are not evaluated by panels convened by the Regional IPM Centers.

Part of the reason is simple efficiency.

“From a work point-of-view, the RIPM grants were extremely difficult to administer,” explained Herb Bolton, a national program leader with NIFA. “If a project had both a research and extension component, money came from two different funding lines. RIPM required four RFAs, four panels and had separate funding sources. The new program has one RFA, one panel and one funding source.”

But that doesn’t mean regional priorities are now less important.  

“It’s really important to emphasize that these awards are still based on regional priorities,” Bolton said. “Applicants have to give specific stakeholder input that shows these priorities. Those could be through priority statements of the IPM Centers, or WERA-type groups and their committees. This requirement has been strengthened in the new RFA, and if somebody doesn’t come in with a strong regional focus and letters of support, they probably won’t do well.”  

The take-home message for applicants is to be more conscious then ever of documenting the stakeholder demand for their projects, particularly since some reviewers on a national panel won’t have knowledge of regional pest issues. The RFA provides links and sources for stakeholder-identified IPM needs.

An Expectation of Cooperation
Another new aspect of the Applied Research and Development grants is a much greater emphasis on regional cooperation.

“We’re expecting recipients to be active in participating in activities in their region,” Bolton said. “It’s a new emphasis, an expectation of increased coordination and cooperation, so we can leverage the few dollars we have for pest management more effectively.”

The Regional IPM Centers will play an important role in that part of the program. Each Center will organize a meeting for the Applied Research and Development project directors in their regions, and the project directors are required, as part of their grants, to attend.

“We’ve never told an award recipient that they are required to participate in a WERA or IPM Center meeting before for the goal of increased communication, coordination and collaboration,” Bolton said. “We’re giving the Centers the authority to be a little more active with some folks. It’s a chance for greater cooperation and input from the Centers.”

(The Crop Protection and Pest Management request for proposals also contains grants for an Extension Implementation Program Area, and a Regional Coordination Program Area. The latter funds the four Regional IPM Centers, and the Western IPM Center is preparing its application for that grant to continue to serve the West.) 

For the Applied Research and Development grants, request maximums are $125,000 for a project with a project director or directors from one state, and $250,000 for projects with directors in multiple states. Bolton stressed those are maximums, not suggested amounts.

 “If someone wants to come in with a smaller project, they can,” he said. “We encourage applications of all budget sizes.”

NIFA anticipates making up to 30 awards, and proposals are due June 19. You can download the request for applications here. 

Pest Management Strategic Plan Pays Off Quickly for Northwest Pears

If anybody doubts the power of grower input or a new Pest Management Strategic Plan to influence research, look no further than the “Pear Psylla Summit” being planned this summer at Washington State University.

The summit is a direct result of the new PMSP for pears on Oregon and Washington, and the needs for Northwest growers to better manage the pear psylla. Entomologist Elizabeth Beers from WSU is organizing the summit, which is tentatively scheduled for July.

“It’ll be just entomologists and focused really on just this one pest, with the understanding that management of one pest relates to others,” Beers said. “The idea is to develop a research agenda and identify specifically where we need to go with our research, then talk about which labs want to take which part of the plan.”

Controlling pear psylla while also preserving pollinators and other beneficial insects emerged as one key pest-management challenges for growers in the five pear-growing regions of Washington and Oregon. (Other pests highlighted in the report were coddling moth, mites and fire blight, and the report also stressed the need to develop dwarf pear rootstocks.)

To prepare the PMSP, Joe DeFrancesco and Katie Murray of the Oregon State Integrated Plant Protection Center conducted grower workshops in each of the areas.

“In each region, people showed up and shared their concerns,” Murray said. “They were interested in the process and seemed grateful someone was hearing their needs and concerns.”

The result of those meetings was a 99-page document that established critical needs industry-wide, and region-specific needs for each of the five growing areas, which range from the Okanogan area in north-central Washington to the Medford area of southern Oregon.

Jim McFerson, manager of the Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission which provided initial funding for the plan, said growers saw the benefits of the meetings.

“Sometimes it’s off-putting for a lot of our producers to go to one more meeting, one more strategic planning session,” he said. “But I think this process was beneficial for everybody and growers saw that strategic planning really does contribute and is not just blah-blah-blah.”

The PMSP, which the Western IPM Center also helped fund, was completed in earlier this year. McFerson said it hasn’t generated new Commission-funded research projects yet – but it will.

“I’m looking forward to the other projects that come out of this one,” he said. “We sure intend to use it, and hopefully solve a few problems.”

You can view the full plan here. 

Welcome New Associate Director Matt Baur

We are happy to announce that Dr. Matt Baur is our new associate director for the Western IPM Center. Matt is an entomologist with diverse IPM experience, including as a research scientist for DuPont / Pioneer in Delaware, a private IPM consultant for growers in Massachusetts, and a research assistant professor in extension in Louisiana.

 

Although he has been east of the Mississippi River the last 20 years, Matt is familiar with the West. As a post-doctoral scholar he worked on IPM for diamondback moth in California and Hawaii and his bachelor’s degree is from University of California San Diego.

 

Matt will manage the Center’s grant program, facilitate the work of the grant awardees, and manage the Center’s budget. We are looking forward to capitalizing on Matt’s skills and experience to improve the Western IPM Center.

 

You can reach Matt at mebaur@ucanr.edu, or (530) 750-1270.

New Video Shows How to Manage Bed Bugs without Harmful Pesticides

The Northwest Center for Alternatives to Pesticides recently released a very informative 12-minute video on how to manage bed bugs without using harmful (and often ineffective) pesticide foggers or sprays.

Produced with funding from the Western IPM Center, the video shows how to identify bed bugs, treat infestations, and - best yet - prevent getting bed bugs in the first place.
Watch it here.

An earlier video by the Northwest Center shows how to make a bed bug trap. Check that one out here.

A Roundup of Interesting Ag News on National Beer Day

Several interesting stories passed across our desks here this morning, and instead of picking one to share, we decided to do a sampler pack.

Cracking in the Delta Mendota Canal as a result of groundwater pumping.

First, and closest to the Western IPM Center's office in Davis, is a long story in the Sacramento Bee about unregulated groundwater pumping in California's San Joaquin Valley, and the subsidence it's causing. (Near the town of El Nido, the ground is sinking at a rate of nearly a foot a year.) Read the story here.

The Bagrada bug

More directly IPM related is a story out of New Mexico about the Bagrada hilaris, a stink bug from southern Africa that's made its way to the United States and enjoys Brassica crops such as bok choy, cabbage and broccoli. Unfortunately, there aren't good ways for small organic growers to manage the pest, but IPM researchers in New Mexico are actively working on it. Read the story in the Albuquerque Journal here.



In the Belfast Telegraph there's a story about a threat to global banana production from a strain of the fungus know as Panama disease tropical race 4. According to a United Nation's Food and Agriculture organization report quoted in the story, the fungus is spreading among the world's top banana-producing regions, has no effective treatment and can potentially threaten a large portion of worldwide banana production. An industry official quoted in the story, however, seemed less alarmed. Check it out for yourself here.

There was also more press recently about corn rootworm and increasing numbers of examples of its growing resistance to Bt corn, which is genetically modified to be pest-resistant. Iowa Farmer Today wrote about it here. On the Western IPM Center website, there's a link to a recent webinar about corn rootworm resistance that was held by our sister center in the North Central Region. Catch up on the webinar here.

Finally - and yes, the tease in the headline was deliberate - April 7 is National Beer Day in the United States. It was on this day in 1933 that the Budweiser Clydesdales delivered beer to the White House to celebrate the end of prohibition in America. 

    

Researchers Testing a Better Way to Control Microdochium Patch on Putting Greens

Microdochium patch.

Microdochium patch, or Fusarium patch as it’s also known, is a problem for golf courses in cool-weather climates like the Pacific Northwest. The fungus creates dinner-plate-sized dead spots on putting greens that are both ugly and can send putts off course.

Control used to mean regular applications of synthetic fungicides – every three to four weeks nine month out of the year – or about 15,000 applications just in the Pacific Northwest alone. That costs the typical golf course about $20,000 a year.

However, new research conducted by Oregon State University’s Alexander Kowalewski and funded by the Western IPM Center is developing ways to manage Microdochium patch that are both better for the environment and far cheaper for course managers.

Kowalewski and graduate research assistant Clint Mattox found that combining a commercial crop oil developed for turfgrass disease and insect suppression, Civitas One, with sulfur or potassium phosphite was very effective at controlling Microdochium patch. They also determined that applications of iron sulfate plus light rates of nitrogen were equally effective.

“Our untreated test plots had about 40 percent disease,” Mattox explained. “The plots treated with Civitas One and sulfur, many of them had no disease, and some had just one percent disease. It’s as effective as synthetic fungicides.”

The research is being successfully replicated at Washington State University, as well.
Kowalewski said the research also showed a surprising finding – that nitrogen applications to greens through the winter can be good.

“The traditional recommendation is to stop nitrogen applications through the winter,” he explained. “What we’re seeing is that the turf is better off with some additional nitrogen.”

Further, the researchers estimate these treatments would save the typical golf course more than $14,000 a year, which translates to a savings of $4.5 million in Oregon, Washington and Northern California alone.

One part of Mattox’s research is recreating the foot traffic a typical putting green sees during the week, so for five days a week, he’s out walking over particular test plots in his golf shoes.

“One day I’m out for 86 minutes, one day 20 minutes, one day 10 minutes, one day six minutes and one day five,” he said. “It simulates 73 rounds of golf.”

Mattox, who came to Oregon State after several years as a golf course manager in Europe, said a non-synthetic management option is especially important there.

“Europe is really tightening down on pesticides,” he said. “We’re starting to see those pressures in the States as well, so another IPM option will be welcomed.”

Both Civitas One and the sulfur being used in the tests are approved for organic production. Potassium phosphite is labeled as a synthetic fertilizer, so is not organically approved.

Over time, the sulfur, potassium or iron would increase the acidity of the soil and eventually damage the greens as well, so the next step in the research will be to test ways to buffer the acidity of the treatments with various calcium sources and to make sure that these treatments for a winter disease don’t cause unexpected problems in the summer.

UC Davis to Host a Conference on the Economics of Ag Pests and Diseases Later this Month

“Pests, Germs and Seeds:  The Economics of Policies, Programs and Technologies for Managing Agricultural Pests and Diseases” is the subject of a conference that will be held on March 28 and 29 at UC Davis.

Pests and diseases of plants and animals impose major costs on the agricultural economy by reducing crop and livestock production, increasing food prices paid by consumers, undermining export potential, and potentially undermining resource values. Government and industry have adopted a range of policies and programs for mitigating the damage done by pests and diseases and containing the costs. These policies and programs include strategies such as exclusion, surveillance, control and mitigation programs. Underpinning all such programs is knowledge and technology derived from agricultural R&D. The purpose of this conference is to exchange information and ideas and present results from economic research into the costs and benefits of different policies, programs, and technologies for managing agricultural pests and diseases, including investments in agricultural R&D related to pests and diseases. 

Featured speakers include Pam Marrone, CEO and founder of Marrone Bio Innovations, speaking on “Trends and New Market Opportunities in Bio-pesticides” and Alan Olmstead, distinguished research professor at UC Davis, speaking on “Science, Policy and Animal Health in the United States: The Case of Texas Fever.”

For registration and program information, click here.