IPM Adoption Perspectives from the Regions: Barriers and Recommendations
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IPM Symposium attendees looking at poster display. Photo by Elaine Wolff. |
Presented at the 10th International IPM Symposium, held February 28 – March 3, 2022, in Denver, Colorado.
Authors: David Lane1 (del97@cornell.edu), Tegan J. Walker2, and Deb Grantham1
1 – Northeastern IPM Center, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
2 – Southern IPM Center, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
Increased IPM adoption hinges not only on the future of innovative research, but also on the willingness of growers to adopt new IPM technologies. Adoption and diffusion of innovations can encounter many different challenges. By better understanding the barriers to IPM adoption, future research, extension, and education initiatives can better target behavior change. This study sought to better understand the barriers facing IPM adoption from the perspective of state IPM coordinators. These professionals have the unique perspective of IPM on a state-wide basis. Overall, the participants ranked “high cost of practice” as the most critical barrier to IPM adoption. “Difficulty of implementation” and “lack of awareness” were also highly ranked as critical barriers to adoption. When asked about ways to increase IPM adoption, participants ranked “Improved cost-benefit analysis” as the most critically important. These findings demonstrate the importance of improved IPM economic cost-benefit analyses to accompany the promotion of new and existing IPM innovations. The need for more comprehensive extension and education programs is also demonstrated by these results.
