Supporting North Carolina Organic Farmers |
Issue
North Carolina organic farmers have stated in surveys that insect pests are their number one research priority, and they identified management of beneficial insects and beneficial insect habitat as their top research need to address the problem.
What Has Been Done
Methods have been developed for large-scale deployment of field border habitat using both organic and conventional approaches. Ongoing studies are examining the value of these habitats for insect pest and weed suppression, pollinator enhancement, as well as farmland wildlife.
Impact
An existing CRP program (CP33) has been modified to allow either organic or conventional growers the option of incorporating field border habitats on their farms to enhance beneficial insects as well as farmland wildlife.
Funding Sources
USDA Natural Resources & Conservation Service
Cooperative Extension (CSREES)
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Contact
Dr. David Orr, Department of Entomology, N.C. State University, Box 7613, Raleigh, NC 27695
Phone: 919-515-4684 / Fax: 919-515-7746
email: david_orr@ncsu.edu
Visit Dr. Orr's web page
Visit the Center for Environmental Farming Systems, which serves organic agriculture in the State
Visit the Cooperative Extension Organic Farming web page
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Creating High-Impact Cotton IPM Extension Programs on the Web |
Issue
One important measure of an extension program’s impact is the degree to which that program’s information is sought by others. In the case of research, a project’s impact may be judged by competitive funding acquired and by publications in high-impact journals.
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The evaluation of an extension program’s impact and visibility may be much more subjective. For example, one’s presence at 30 annual production meetings probably signifies a high level of activity and |
perhaps a large number of requests, both noteworthy; but this activity does not address the evaluation criteria of project quality and impact. One measure of extension program’s impact would be a carefully conducted program in which stakeholder behavior, such as the adoption of an IPM practice and associated economic benefits, was objectively quantified. However, these benefits are difficult to measure objectively and are the bane of most extension employees. Present technology offers a competitive playing field in the form of Google searches, at least for extension faculty whose programs offer significant web-based information. These searches offer an objective means of determining the degree to which a individual’s information is sought by others. That is, the earlier a project’s information comes up in a Google search, the greater the impact and the more visible the program.
What Has Been Done
Our project has posted the Cotton Insect Corner web site http://ipm.ncsu.edu/cotton/insectcorner/
which provides information on all aspects of cotton insect management to our county agent, producers, consultant, and general public stakeholders.
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Available information includes a Cotton Insect Photo Gallery, all black light trapping data in real time, our project’s research results in various file formats for easy viewing and convenient downloading, our Cotton Insect Scouting Guide, weekly Pest News updates and .mp3 Cotton Hotline audio tapes throughout the growing season, an early posting of Southeast Farm press popular articles, a cotton insecticide performance rating chart, recent PowerPoint presentations by our project, NCSU’s annual Cotton Information Booklet, and other items of interest.
Impact
Judging from Google search results, our cotton insect management project is both high impact and highly visible. On the basis of Google searches, the NCSU Extension Cotton IPM project is the most visible such cotton extension program in the US.
Funding Sources
Cotton Incorporated through the North Carolina Cotton State Support Committee
Southern Region IPM Center Capstone Grant
Contact
Dr. Jack S. Bacheler, Professor & Department Leader,
Extension Entomology, N.C. State University
Phone: (919) 515-8877 / Fax: (919) 515-7746
Email: jack_bacheler@ncsu.edu
Visit Dr. Bacheler's web page |
Apiculture Program Conserves This Natural Resource and Ensure the Food Supply |
Impact Statement
Issue: In addition to the $10-15 million annual value of honey and other hive products in North Carolina, honey bees are responsible for an estimated $186 million each year in value added to the state’s agricultural economy through crop pollination. This is in spite of a steady decline in the number of beekeepers and managed colonies across the state, for which an increase in the number of hive pests has been largely responsible. Nationwide, honey bee pollination is worth an estimated $20 billion in added agriculture produce, so that one-third of our daily diet is directly attributable to honey bees.
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What Has Been Done: Members of the Apiculture program have collectively provided approximately 120 presentations to local and regional beekeeping groups over the last three years, resulting in over 10,000 direct contacts. We have co-developed the “BeeLinked” web site, an online marketplace for growers and pollinators to post advertisements about |
their respective need and availability of bee hives. We also administer the NC Master Beekeeper Program (MBP), the largest program of its kind in the country with over 5,500 participants. Its purpose is to provide valuable information to beekeepers and the public through various outreach services. Finally, we conducted the 2005 New Beekeeper Cost-sharing Program to bolster the honey bee population in the state by helping to attract new people to beekeeping.
Impact: State- and nationwide media coverage of our activities have collectively resulted in a public increase in honey bee awareness and concern for their welfare. We conservatively estimate a 5% increase in the managed honey bee population in the state as a result of the increased interest in apiculture due to our extension program. If honey bees account for $200 million in agricultural productivity in the state (see above), and there are approximately 100,000 managed bee colonies in NC, then each managed hive has the potential to contribute roughly $2,000 to the state’s economy. A 5,000 colony increase in the bee population, therefore, may have potentially added another $10 million to the state’s agricultural economy. This is all in addition to the countless intangible impacts of the NC State Apiculture program: the Q&A session with 10 beekeepers on the steps of the Extension office because the building was locked; the hour-long phone conversation allaying the fears of a woman deathly afraid of stinging insects; the spark ignited in the young 4-H student to start his first hive. All of these efforts collectively result in a tremendous impact for the general public that has a significant inherent value, even though it is impossible to place a dollar figure on it or measure its impact following any sort of objective criteria.
Funding Sources
National Honey Board
NC Agricultural Foundation
NC Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
NC Golden LEAF Foundation
United States Department of Agriculture, Entomology and Nematology Program
United States Department of Agriculture, Arthropod and Nematode Gateway to Genomics Program
Contacts
Dr. David R. Tarpy, Associate Professor & Extension Apiculturist, Department of Entomology, Campus Box 7613, N.C. State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-7613
TEL: (919) 515-1660 / FAX: (919) 515-7746
CELL: (919) 218-4084
EMAIL: david_tarpy@ncsu.edu
WEB: http://entomology.ncsu.edu/apiculture
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Supporting the Continued Health of the North Carolina Apple Industry |
Issue:
The North Carolina apple industry has faced numerous challenges controlling insect pests due to pesticide regulatory changes and the development of insecticide-resistant insect populations. The loss of broad spectrum organophosphate chemicals, once used to control key apple pests, left the industry with only a few narrow spectrum insecticides to control the codling moth, the most important insect pest of apples. Control of codling moth became more challenging when populations developed resistance to several commonly used insecticides.
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What Has Been Done:
North Carolina State University conducted a research and extension program from 2007 to 2010 to development and implement reduced-risk pest management programs for apple insects, with specific attention paid to the codling moth. Methods were developed to monitor populations for resistance to various insecticides, which helped growers to avoid using products no longer effective. The use of pheromone-mediated mating disruption, a semiochemical alternative to insecticides, was tested for management of codling moth and oriental fruit moth. An educational program targeting apple growers and the pest control industry was used to implement these new pest management strategies on an area-wide basis. Pest and beneficial arthropod populations were monitored in approximately 30 orchards during the project to measure changes in pest populations and grower practices.
Impact: Based on data collected from orchards participating in the project, the use of broad spectrum insecticides declined >70% between 2007 and 2010, and the number of applications per season declined from an average of 9.8 to 7.1 per season. Reductions in insecticide use were largely due to the widespread adoption of mating disruption for codling moth and oriental fruit moth; the percentage of NC apple acreage under mating disruption increased from 3% in 2006 to almost 60% in 2010. Prior to this project, overall damage due to codling moth and oriental fruit moth averaged 3.2%, and by 2010 overall damage by these insects declined to 0.15%.
Funding Sources:
USDA Risk Avoidance and Mitigation Program
NC Agricultural Research Service
NC Cooperative Extension Service
Contacts:
Dr. James F. Walgenbach
Professor of Entomology & Extension Entomologist
Mountain Horticultural Crops Research & Extension Center
North Carolina State University
phone: (828) 684-3562
fax: (828) 684-8715
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