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Successful Greenhouse IPM Project Expands - May 2004
May 12, 2004
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA - Greenhouse growers in Southwestern Pennsylvania are aiming to reduce their use of pesticides through a recently expanded IPM training program.
Integrated Pest Management, or IPM, aims to manage pests -- such as insects, diseases, weeds and animals -- by combining physical, biological and chemical tactics that are safe, profitable and environmentally compatible. A greenhouse IPM program follows a biointensive strategy and relies upon sanitation, mechanical barriers, biocontrol, scouting and targeted pesticides when necessary.
The project, headed by Cathy Thomas, Pennsylvania Integrated Pest Management Program biocontrol specialist, is part of the program's greenhouse IPM program and is funded by the Environmental Protection Agency and Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program. The successful program was started in the Susquehanna River was expanded into Lancaster County and Southwestern Pennsylvania. According to Thomas, IPM is catching on because many growers are looking for viable alternatives to using pesticides.
The project includes a diverse group consisting of bedding plant and greenhouse vegetable growers. "There is a concentration of greenhouse growers in southwestern PA who have not received the attention of the PA greenhouse IPM program in the past due to limited resources," says Thomas. "This project specifically targets these underserved growers. We were able to enlist ten growers to participate and hire Les Garrett, an IPM consultant," she says.
Garret makes weekly visits to the ten growers spanning Allegheny, Armstrong, Indiana and Westmoreland Counties and trains growers on greenhouse IPM methods. "We're still in the educational phase of the project," says Garrett, a former plant inspector of 33 years with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. "I teach growers pest scouting techniques, life cycles of the pests and biocontrol agents. We show the grower how biocontrol alternatives can be used and blended with compatible chemical controls to manage pests," Garrett explains.
While it's still early in the program, many of the growers are already seeing the benefits of an IPM program. Garrett will work with the growers through a crop cycle so the growers gain confidence and independence. According to Thomas, by converting these growers to IPM methods they expect to see a reduction of pesticide use by at least 50 percent, thereby slowing resistance in target pests and creating a safer working environment.
Thomas has been a part of numerous IPM/biocontrol related projects working with Penn State and Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture personnel. Thomas has compiled her biocontrol advice into a publication, "Bug vs. Bug." The sixty-six page, full color manual can be found on the PA IPM Web site at http://paipm.cas.psu.edu/317.htm. For more information on biocontrol of plant pests in greenhouses, contact Thomas at (717) 705-5857 or e-mail c-cthomas@state.pa.us.
The Pennsylvania IPM program is a collaboration between the Pennsylvania State University and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture aimed at promoting integrated pest management in both agricultural and nonagricultural situations. For more information, contact the program at (814) 865-2839, or Web site http://paipm.cas.psu.edu/.