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Impact Report

For plan Integrated Pest Management Systems
Date January 14, 2011, 3:33 pm
For Objective Short-term Show short-term objectives
Impact Report Although usually associated with commercial agriculture for the last 40 years, the basic concepts involved in “Integrated Pest Management” or “IPM” can have broader applications to everything from home vegetable gardens to structural pest control. People with pest problems as well as those whose jobs involve pest control need basic information to identify their pest problems, to determine the severity of damage, to be aware of their pest control options and to correct problems in legally, environmentally acceptable ways. County Extension Agents and this Extension Entomologist face these challenges daily as we deal with the general public on numerous issues, Master Gardeners, Pesticide Applicators, farmers, and ranchers. The general public usually considers our diverse arthropod fauna as pests coming out of nowhere, causing damage to anything and everything and requiring immediate and complete control with the handiest pesticide. Accurate arthropod identification is the first step in assisting these clients and their County Agents. In this reporting period, I made nearly 1,000 identifications for Extension clients from specimens and sometimes photographs they or their agent submitted. While 60-70 of these identifications were made directly for ‘walk in’ clients conveniently in town, I provided the rest via email through the appropriate county agent to their clients, along with biological information, distributions, damage done (or not), management strategies and, if requested and appropriate, suggestions for currently registered insecticides. These are all ‘need to know’ questions generated by a concerned clientele expecting nothing more than a narrow ‘see and spray’ question/answer. More often than not, clients express gratitude for my attention to detail and explanations of what various arthropods do and their roles in the environment; I have become a dependable, reliable and quick source of information for clients and agents alike, frequently resulting in requests for presentations and displays at various Extension or university sponsored events. In this reporting period, I developed programs or presented material (verbally and with displays) for 14 youth oriented activities (nearly 14,000 people in these audiences) and 4 general gardening or outdoor events in addition to other programming requested by agents or departmental colleagues. Clientele enroll in Master Gardener programs because of their skills and interests in becoming more knowledgeable about gardening or better at maintaining their gardens and landscapes. Entomology is a key part of the curriculum which many dread. Again, I try to demystify but also emphasize the common garden and landscape insects and their relatives during PowerPoint programs I have tailored to commonly grown vegetable, fruit and nut, ornamental and turf species in different parts of the state. I made 21 of these presentations for Master Gardeners and garden club audiences in this reporting period, speaking to nearly 750 people. According to comments received after these presentations, gardeners appreciated learning the names and some basic information on arthropods they had seen or experienced. At least 80% felt more ‘empowered’ to assess their pest problems and the need for control. The biggest struggle for many in the audience remains with insecticides which are, and should be, the ‘last ditch’ control option for serious pests. While I do not emphasize chemical control or recommend one product over another during presentations (or with identifications, for that matter), I do make the audience aware of pesticide safety, information on pesticide labels and potential categories of registered insecticides, both conventional and the highly popular ‘organic’ products. Pesticide Applicator Training (PAT) classes are another category of audiences that I address annually about basic and applied entomology, IPM and pest control practices. Pesticide applicators attend class and study educational manuals, some of which I wrote, because they need to be licensed or keep their licenses as part of their jobs. In the reporting period, I trained or certified 630 PAT trainees or licensed applicators in 18 workshops open to all New Mexicans. Conservatively estimating a salary of $25,000/year for trainees and $45,000/year for licensees, these people, once licensed, are supporting 630 families in the state and adding an estimated $25.33 million to the New Mexico economy. My ‘Entomology News Roundups’ for licensees are general enough for all categories of licensees from private applicators to commercial O&T applicators to structural pest controllers to find items of interest, alerting them to new, continuing or potential pests in their areas. Introducing youth and the general public to arthropods continues with 14 displays and 58 short presentations to audiences from K-12 (and associated adults) in the reporting period. For about half of these audiences, these programs were their first opportunities to view insects “up close,” to hear more about unique arthropods in the displays and to host an entomologist or science specialist from an out-of-town university, NMSU. In addition, I prepared three large (26+ drawers) displays at the Southern New Mexico and Southwestern New Mexico Fairs for approximately 14,000 viewers over 13 days. Additional outreach efforts were to under-served (in terms of NMSU campus faculty visits) and rural counties, including one counties with at-risk Navajo clientele. 4H programs have adopted both the “100 Common Insects of New Mexico” and the Curriculum (“Insects Rule the Earth”) written by Dr. David Richman and Carol Sutherland while Future Farmers of America have adopted “100 Common Insects…” and a machine-graded answer sheet tailored to the arthropod identification quiz given by us at their State convention and competition. In the reporting period, 128 youth (middle school or high school) participated in statewide 4H and FFA entomology competitions. I use both of these manuals plus a DVD that we produced originally in 1985 to teach two classes annually of NMSU’s AXED 485 class (14 students in the reporting period) for future teachers of agriculture and county agents. Outreach efforts like these and the competitions are used to interest students in arthropods, the sciences and, potentially, to become students at New Mexico State University. I also maintained my professional memberships in 7 organizations, 6 with direct associations to entomology publications, keeping me aware of recent developments. I wrote 2 grant applications and participated in the development of 3 more for funding beyond what I receive from state or federal sources. Three publications were generated along with ideas or requests for many more in the future.