Researchers, educators, consultants, and growers are working to synthesize current knowledge and create an advanced IPM system that could enhance profits and sustainability.

The 2009 growing season will be remembered for its widespread outbreak of late blight. Gardeners and farmers can prepare now for a healthy crop next year.

... especially when locally grown. Rice production is alluring both to locavores and to growers seeking ways to get production from marginal lands.

Schools embrace IPM for all the right reasons: Children are more vulnerable than adults to both pests and pesticides, either of which can trigger asthma, the leading chronic illness in U.S. children.

Seed companies put IPM researchers’ findings to use: Growers now have access to new tomato varieties that resist some of the most threatening tomato diseases and can be grown in ways that are gentler to the environment.

Maine’s Potato IPM Program made great strides in 2008, saving growers $17 million while minimizing pesticide usage. This is big news in a state where potatoes are the top agricultural commodity, valued at more than $500 million.

In 2009, the Northeastern IPM Center awarded nearly $390,000 to support the following research and outreach projects in northeastern states.

Northeastern golf courses put IPM to work: Turf managers need strategies to comply with new mandates, lessen environmental impacts, and continue to attract players in a competitive industry.

The Green-Blue Grants Program disbursed $12,500 to promote clean water through residential IPM. Nearly 1,000 homeowners and lawn care professionals in six states received direct training through this program.

Growers, scientists, and marketers have successfully boosted the market for IPM-grown apples through their collaborations in the Northeast.

Urban pests like cockroaches and mice can trigger asthma, contaminate food, and damage buildings. They can also cause stress and lead people to misuse pesticides.

Nearly 400 northeastern growers and NRCS staff have attended on-farm workshops aimed at improving growers’ ability to earn financial incentives for managing pests in ways that protect the environment.

In 2006, managed honey bee colonies began to disappear in large numbers without known reason. IPM experts are looking for ways to keep colonies healthy.

Teaching IPM concepts to school children has emerged as a strategy that prepares all citizens to make decisions that safeguard the environment and human health.

The Northeast Vegetable IPM Working Group has offered an Educator Exchange Program that helps agricultural professionals attend meetings about IPM practices in vegetables and strawberries, and then share what they’ve learned.

In 2008, the Northeastern IPM Center awarded nearly $475,000 to support the following research and outreach projects in northeastern states.

Portable immersion system thwarts pests of ornamental plants. In the $10 billion U.S. nursery industry, getting stock plant cuttings off to a pest-free start can prevent costly infestations and pesticide treatments later.

… or at least diminished, thanks to reduced-area treatments on potatoes. Entomologist Andrei Alyokhin led a team of researchers who reduced the amount of imidacloprid used on potato crops, treating only selected areas on the perimeter of the field.