Penn State's Pest Management Information Now Available at Retail Garden Outlets - December 2001

December 5, 2001

UNIVERSITY PARK, PA -- Consumers are now able to find out how they can use fewer pesticides in their gardens and around their homes while shopping at their local garden centers and chain stores.
Free information on Integrated Pest Management, or IPM, and nutrient management from Penn State and other land grant universities is being distributed to county extension offices, county fairs, garden centers and other retailers, says Steve Bogash, Penn State Cooperative Extension Agent in Franklin County. IPM aims to control pests -- such as insects, diseases, weeds and animals -- by combining physical, biological and chemical tactics that are safe, profitable and environmentally compatible. In the case of home plantings, proper plant variety selection and good site preparation can help avoid many future pest problems. The consumer needs this information at the time they are purchasing plants and planting them.

Bogash, who is also the principle investigator of the project, says they received a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA) to assess the needs of garden centers in York and Franklin Counties and provide garden centers with 'point of purchase' information to advise consumers about proper IPM practices. Providing IPM educational materials to consumers where and when they buy plants or other garden materials will result in more informed consumer pest management decisions and decreased pesticide misuse. "Twenty-six garden centers, primarily in Franklin County, have been contacted about the program as have several garden centers in York County. Its clear from the results of the survey that garden center owners do see a need for homeowner education and are willing to distribute fact sheets for the Cooperative Extension office," says Bogash. "Also, garden center owners/managers are interested in employee IPM training."

Lana Adams, Home Horticulture/Consumer IPM Educator in Franklin County, talked to fair-goers at the York County Fair about insects, pest management and pesticide choice. She has also given a presentation on pesticide toxicity and least toxic methods of pesticide control to Franklin County Master Gardeners. Currently, Adams is rewriting some of Penn State's IPM publications so they better address homeowner concerns and to make them more reader-friendly. She will continue to rewrite and distribute IPM publications and recruit students for IPM employee training sessions.

According to Bogash, the grant will fund the project for at least 15 months with the possibility of refunding. "Our long term goal is to turn this into a regional project and work with counties in Maryland as well. That way, the program will be eligible for additional federal funding through multi-state cooperation and will continue to grow," Bogash says.

For more information, you can contact Steve Bogash at (717) 263-9226 or email at smb13@psu.edu.
The Pennsylvania IPM Program is a collaboration between Penn State and the PDA aimed at promoting IPM in both agricultural and nonagricultural situations. For more information, contact the program at (814) 865-2839, or visit web site http://paipm.cas.psu.edu.