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Funded Project

Funding Program: Regional IPM Competitive Grants - Northeastern

Project Title: Deployment of Use/Risk Reduction Practices for Imidacloprid in Colorado Potato Beetle Management

Project Directors (PDs): Galen Dively [1] James Linduska [2]

Lead State: MD Lead Organization: University of Maryland

Cooperating State(s): Delaware

Undesignated Funding: $28,304

Start Date: Sep-15-1996 End Date: Sep-30-1998

Pests Involved: Colorado potato beetles

Site/Commodity: potatoes

Summary: Objectives: * Validate effectiveness of field-scale deployment of perimeter treatments and row mixtures of imidacloprid-treated and untreated potatoes to control Colorado potato beetles. * Determine optimal dose and deployment method for applying imidacloprid as a drench treatment. * Document economic and environmental benefits of the use/risk reduction practices. * Provide training and education to growers and encourage adoption of use/risk reduction practices. Outcomes and Impacts Summary from 2001 IPM Center report Researchers in Maryland and Delaware are experimenting with ways to limit the use of imidacloprid so that Colorado potato beetle does not develop resistance to this important pesticide. Working in cooperation with Rufs Potato Company, Galen Dively examined the effectiveness of treating only the perimeter of potato fields with the pesticide, taking advantage of the beetle's behavior of walking into fields in the spring from overwintering sites. The "perimeter barrier" succeeded in preventing most of the beetles from entering potato fields and reduced the total use of imidacloprid by 50 to 90 percent. Because less pesticide was applied to the soil with this method, potential risks to groundwater were diminished and control costs were reduced by 55 percent. This application strategy is now being applied to 45 percent of the potato acreage in Maryland and, if adopted to its fullest potential throughout the Northeast, could save the region's potato industry over $1.9 million. In related research, Dively found that greenhouse tomatoes planted in imidacloprid-drenched soil required onesixteenth the usual amount of the pesticide. This finding provides another example of how altering the method of application can reduce pesticide costs and limit their release to the environment. Publication Dively, G.P., P.A. Follett, J.J. Linduska, and G.K. Roderick. 1998. Deployment of imidacloprid-treated row mixtures for Colorado potato beetle (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) management. J. Econ. Entomol. 91:376-387.

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