Veg CWG leaders Ruth Hazzard and Curt Petzoldt

In the Center May 2002

Veggie Group Finds Fertile Common Ground
NE PMC’s Vegetable Commodity Working Group (CWG) held its first meeting in March to address the concerns and challenges of the northeastern vegetable industry. The group, led by Ruth Hazzard (University of Massachusetts) and Curt Petzoldt (Cornell University), discussed how it can best contribute to successful vegetable integrated pest management (IPM) in the region. The group’s members come from 10 of the 12 northeastern states and represent diverse stakeholders, including growers with a range of markets, processors, consultants, environmental groups, marketers, regulators, and researchers. These participants are working to ensure that the Center is responsive to the needs of all those concerned with IPM for vegetables throughout the region.

The Vegetable CWG had a very positive discussion, during which they identified several common goals and discussed what the group’s role should be. They see a need for incentives that would encourage growers to adopt IPM and integrated crop management (ICM) tactics. These incentives might include the availability of on-farm scouts, who could bring expertise that would help growers plan effective pest management strategies.

The group also decided to collect and document the existence of IPM “elements” or “growing protocols” that define IPM methods and can thus help producers assess their practice of IPM. The CWG will identify elements in each northeastern state and examine how these elements can be used to help vegetable farmers improve their economic return and environmental stewardship. The vegetable CWG also sees a need to inform growers about available IPM resources and to determine what other types of information resources would be useful.

Finally, the group recognized the importance of pest management strategic plans (PMSPs), which can be used to establish future goals for research, education, and regulation in specific crops. As a region-wide group, they are in a unique position to look for common issues across all the northeastern states. The Vegetable CWG decided that it would like to participate in the development of a PMSP for a crop grown throughout the northeastern region. They identified several criteria that could help determine which crop(s) would be their focus, and they intend to work with other groups in the region to find the most appropriate crop for a PMSP.

Contents of this Issue:

A message from the Coordinator - NE PMC annual meeting, about the survey

Networking in New England - NEPMNet, the New England Pest Management Network

News and updates - PA School IPM law; International IPM Conference in Toronto; Fruit CWG progress

Crop profiles offer a critical snapshot - Everything you always wanted to know about crop profiles

Fourth National IPM Symposium Planned - Indianapolis, next April

Veggie Group Finds Fertile Common Ground - About the Vegetable Commodity Working Group

Reader survey - Please spend a few minutes to help make this newsletter more useful to you

Links:

In the Center index

NEIPMC home page

This newsletter is online at www.northeastipm.org/inthecenter/may2002. For more information on NE PMC, visit our web site (www.northeastipm.org) or contact NE PMCs Coordinator Jim VanKirk (315-787-2378; jrv1@cornell.edu) or Information Specialist Liz Thomas (315-787-2626; egt3@cornell.edu), NE PMC, PO Box 462, Geneva, NY 14456. Publication supported by CSREES, USDA, project number 1952-CU-USDA-9759. Writing and design: Elizabeth Myers.

Printed on recycled paper.    2M   ACT  5/02

The Northeastern Integrated Pest Management Center fosters the development and adoption of IPM, a science-based approach to managing pests in ways that generate economic, environmental, and human health benefits. We work in partnership with stakeholders from agricultural, urban, and rural settings to identify and address regional priorities for research, education, and outreach.