Spotlight on Rhode Island IPM
Rhode Island’s IPM program is led by Richard Casagrande, who chairs the Plant Sciences Department at the University of Rhode Island (URI). The program relies on federal Smith-Lever 3(d) funds, which support the efforts of Dr. Casagrande and three part-time associates.
The state sets a marvelous example for landscape and horticulture IPM education. Its Sustainable Landscapes Program promotes pest-resistant plants and planting practices through the publication Sustainable Trees and Shrubs. The program has been instrumental in developing URI’s Learning Landscape Gardens, a living classroom with educational programs that demonstrate methods for reducing the use of pesticides and nutrients in the home landscape without sacrificing the quality of home lawns and gardens. Events such as master gardener training and tours for the public are held at the gardens, and school children preparing to visit can access a website introducing IPM principles.
The GreenShare Program offers additional learning opportunities to homeowners and landscape professionals. Coordinator Marion Gold hosts a biweekly television segment called “URI Plant Pro,” which provides research-based IPM information to as many as 7 million viewers annually. The program’s new, free web-based service, Hort Alert (coming online this spring), gives the green industry up-to-date information on weather conditions, bloom status, pest outbreaks, and management recommendations. GreenShare offers hands-on IPM training to master gardeners, who planted and maintained a demonstration vegetable garden at URI this year. More than 500 people attended their August open house, which included workshops run by the master gardeners. GreenShare’s annual field day at the Learning Landscape Gardens, with over 3,000 visitors, had a theme of water conservation and recovering from drought.
Another success for Rhode Island IPM is its biocontrol implementation projects. Lisa Tewksbury and others on the IPM team have worked to combat hemlock woolly adelgid, purple loosestrife, cypress spurge, and lily leaf beetle through the introduction of natural enemies. Their research and predator release projects show promise for addressing these pest problems throughout the region.
Rhode Island’s thriving Apple IPM program is overseen by Heather Faubert, who assists growers by scouting orchards, maintaining a weather station, issuing growing forecasts, and providing web updates on pests. In 2002, the state’s apple growers used 30% fewer fungicides, 29% fewer insecticides, and 73% fewer miticides than is recommended in the New England Apple Pest Management Guide.
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