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Funded Project |
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Funding Program:
IPM Partnership Grants |
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Project Title:
New York and New England Small Fruit Pest Tour and IPM Working Group (2010-2011) |
Project Director (PD):
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Lead State: VT Lead Organization: University of Vermont |
| Undesignated Funding: $8,000 |
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Start Date: Jul-01-2010 End Date: Jun-30-2011 |
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Pests Involved: Small fruit pests |
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Site/Commodity: organic, strawberry, raspberry, blueberry, grape |
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Area of Emphasis: organic, ipm, small fruits |
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Summary:
Small fruits are an economically important crop for New England and are often an essential component of diversified vegetable farms. Pest identification and knowledge of successful integrated pest management strategies are crucial for the successful small fruit farm. A NY/NE Small Fruit IPM Working Group that develops and directs IPM priorities for small fruit stakeholders in New York and New England would be an important resource for the small fruit industry.
We propose a three day meeting with approximately 25 small fruit and/or pest management specialists from NY and New England. Pest management specialists from universities, organic farming associations plus NRCS will be invited. The group will focus on pest issues on organic farms as identified as a priority area in from our 2009 meeting. The first half day of the meeting will be spent sharing slides/examples of pest issues encountered in our states and sharing information about our various agencies' IPM programs. The following day will be in the field visiting organic blueberry, strawberry and raspberry farms plus a vineyard, examining the pest problems. The third half day will be spent discussing pest management strategies with an emphasis towards choosing reduced risk pesticides and alternative, non-pesticide strategies that lead to sustainable solutions. The group will also identify and prioritize specific research, extension and education needs for small fruit stakeholders in New England. The continuation of an active and impactful Small Fruits IPM Working Group that addresses emerging IPM issues and priorities outlined in the National IPM Roadmap and by the NE IPM Center is one of the desired outcomes of the 3 day meeting. The second desired impact is improving the pest identification and integrated pest management knowledge in organic small fruit systems among specialists to benefit small fruit growers. A third desired impact is to increase knowledge of the different IPM programs offered by the different agencies at the meeting and to foster cooperation and transparency among the agencies. Objectives: Objective 1. To gather IPM stakeholders from multi-disciplines (plant pathologists, entomologists, weed specialists, small fruit specialists) and multi-states (New England and NY) and different agencies (Extension, Organic Farming Associations and NRCS) to share information and expertise in the field and conference room on small fruit pest identification and integrated pest management strategies with a focus on organic systems. Objective 2. To continue to address priorities for research, education and extension for small fruit IPM (in both organic and conventional systems) through the Northeast Small Fruit IPM Working Group made up of representatives from Extension, organic associations and NRCS. Objective 3. To increase awareness of the different agencies' (Extension, NOFAVT, NOFA-NY, MOFGA, NRCS) programs and initiatives for IPM strategies. Objective 4. To identify future IPM education opportunities such as workshops or conferences for all Northeast small fruit growers. Objective 5. To evaluate the impacts of the Small Fruit Pest Issues Tour and Small Fruit IPM Working Group meeting by surveying participants. Proposal |
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Final Report: |
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Outcomes The Small Fruit Working Group held their 3 day meeting in Burlington, VT, on July 20, 21 and 22, 2010. Our priority (determined at last year's meeting) was to address pest issues on organic berry farms and to at least familiarize ourselves with the emerging grape industry. Twelve pest management and small fruit specialists from NE and NY extension, Organic Grower Associations, and the IR 4 program attended. The first afternoon of the meeting was spent sharing pest problems we encountered over the past year, new and old insect and disease problems in small fruits, new pesticides, new IPM management tools and our individual educational programs. The second day was spent in the field at 3 grower's fields looking at pest and disease problems. We ended with a twilight meeting for over 50 organic growers at our final berry farm located in the Intervale in Burlington. The final day of our meeting was spent discussing what we encountered in the field and also sharing approaches to management. We also discussed future directions for the group and our next year's priority of looking at small fruit propagation and including a visit to a small fruit tissue culture facility. Our tour was very informative, looking at problems in blueberry, strawberry, raspberry and grapes and interacting with the farmers growing the crops. There was substantial interaction among the researchers looking at the various crops and pest issues. Since we had a varied group of expertise, looking at various pests/complexes was very beneficial for increasing all our knowledge. |
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Impacts Our meeting was rated very successful by all the attendees. We definitely increased our ability to identify small fruit pests and increased our knowledge of organic management strategies for those pests using IPM principles. This knowledge was immediately and impactfully passed on to about 50 small fruit stakeholders at an organic twilight meeting held in conjunction with our meeting. http://www.uvm.edu/vtvegandberry/meetings/adamsberryfarm7-21-10.html The 3 growers we worked with on this tour were impacted by the group attending their farm. They learned of potential new diseases and the impacts of nematodes and fungal leaf spots on strawberries and cane diseases of raspberries. Scouting fields was continually encouraged and supported by the growers and researchers. The growers met experts in other states and followed up field discussions with several emails to the appropriate pest/crop specialists in other states. The growers and researchers were all dedicated to the goals of IPM and decreasing the use of pesticides and when choosing a pesticide, using the least impactful one to the environment and non target organisms. Proper identification of pest problems was the most impactful outcome of the tour, for both the growers and the specialists. Having several trained eyes looking at the same problem was invaluable for the correct identification, leading to the best use of IPM for management. This correct identification of the pest saves the farmer money by applying the right controls at the right time, saving money, and extra use of pesticides. The information learned at our tour and workshop by the 11 researchers and famers was greatly amplified by being taken back to our respective states and programs with the resulting information added to the specialists websites, grower newsletters, web diagnostic tools, grower meetings and one on one conversations with farmers. It is difficult to assess the overall impact of the tour and workshop but the researchers expressed the value of the 3 day workshop by taking time out of their busy schedules during the growing season to meet with their fellow researchers and specialists to share information and management strategies. Following our meeting, Working Group attendees were polled and asked how specifically they had used the information learned at our meeting. Members listed the introduction of the Cornell Berry Diagnostic Tool website http://www.fruit.cornell.edu/berrytool/ to growers through newsletters and meetings as having a big IPM impact for growers. Also, information from new and old newsletters from our various universities was shared across universities and organic grower associations for the benefit of their members. Working group members said a lot of the pest information learned and shared at our meeting was carried forward in their home states through on site farm visits, newsletters, and crop and field recommendations. We discussed the importance of clean propagation of small fruit nursery stock and the lack of standardization and regulation in the production of small fruits leading to the spread of virus and other disease problems. As a result of this discussion, we proposed visiting a small fruit propagation facility an important next step for future meetings. Our meeting increased our collaboration and communication among agencies and increased our understanding of the various programs offered by the agencies. This awareness helps increase sharing across state borders, ultimately helping small fruit stakeholders with their pest management strategies. |
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