Training for Grounds Managers and Public Officials to Implement IPM Guidelines for Turf, Landscapes, and Indoor Pests in Massachusetts Schools.

Participants will organize and conduct training conferences covering IPM strategies for schools and daycare settings. Topics for the agenda include indoor insect and rodent pests; ticks, mosquitoes, and wasps; sports turf; greenhouses; and landscapes.

Measuring Adoption of IPM Practices in Schools (funding split between MDAR and Northeastern IPM Center)

This survey will measure adoption of IPM practices in 1200 schools across New England, measure the impact of outreach programs on adoption of IPM practices, and determine the best avenues to meet these educational needs.

Developing and Expanding Integrated Crop Management (ICM) Strategies for New Crops

For several years, UMass has worked to introduce to commercial growers in the state and region new crops that are popular among the large and growing immigrant populations. A major component of the research on these crops has been to evaluate cultural and pest management practices and develop management systems for them. In some cases "new" crops can be grown using pesticides labeled for use on the same family or species of crops. However, some new crops have no pesticides registered since they are different species than crops grown in the region.

Research activities will include: trials to evaluate weed management strategies that are certified organic, evaluation of optimum nutrient levels for sustainable production in Massachusets, evaluation of using bare ground vs. plastic with drip irrigation, and evaluation of pest pressure.

Increasing Grower Use of Avanced, Reduced Risk IPM Practices for Sweet Corn

A Sweet Corn IPM Guide will be produced, growers will be trained in IPM techniques, and growers will evaluate Trichogramma wasps for European corn borer control. Several aspects of Bt sweet corn production will also be evaluated.