Plant Management Systems: Urban Horticulture

Kyle Tator has signed on to support Plant Management Systems: Urban Horticulture within Valencia County.

This agent was contacted by the City of Portales in 2008 to provide an educational training series to parks and maintenance employees on the Public Applicator Exam. A Public Applicator license is required by municipality employees in order to apply restricted use pesticides. This agent acquired training materials from the NMSU training group that hosts the training workshops across the state. Seventeen employees from the city of Portales attended the two lectures. Following the lectures 75% percent of the employees felt they were better equipped to take the exam. This agent was complemented on the lecture and information provided to employees.

Numerous calls and personal contacts are made throughout a given year on various home horticulture issues. Clientele are often seeking an answer to various diseases, insect, or weed problems. Many have exasperated all other means to find an answer to their given situation. Diagnostic reports and specialist inputs are relayed to clientele in hopes of mitigating their problems. When surveyed, 80% of the people that have used recommendations on horticulture related issues indicated that they will be incorporated into their home garden management strategies. Because of these recommendations clientele feel they have improved peace of mind and quality of life.

Africanized Bees moved into the county three years ago and have established themselves as part of the landscape. Due to their dangerous nature when agitated and the concentration at which they are found in the county this agent wanted to provide programming efforts about Africanized Bees for emergency responders in the county. This agent sought council in the spring of 2008 from the fire, police and sheriff’s departments about the interest and need for such a training. All agencies agreed that it would be beneficial. This agent recruited the help of a local pest control agency that does most of the bee removal work in the area to share their experiences and knowledge of bee management. The state entomologist was also in attendance to offer the expertise of bee anatomy and history. Twenty-five participants from five different agencies were present. Over 80% of those in attendance said that they had learned something new that they didn’t know before and they would change their habits of how they approach a potentially dangerous situation. This program served as a great refresher course on bee safety and even led to a newspaper article which provided general knowledge to the public.

Patrick Kircher has signed on to support Plant Management Systems: Urban Horticulture within Roosevelt County.