2014 Funded Partnership Projects to Target Invasives, Reach Latinos

Button mushroom. Stephen Ausmus, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Bugwood.org

In 2014, the Northeastern IPM Center awarded $300,000 for research and outreach through IPM Partnership Grants, a competitive program supported by funds from USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. The projects include efforts to stop invasive insects, increase IPM knowledge among Latinos in urban and agricultural settings, and alleviate food deserts. The projects:

Bringing IPM to the Hispanic Workforce in the Mid-Atlantic Mushroom Industry, Ed Rajotte, The Pennsylvania State University, $40,000.

Rajotte aims to increase IPM knowledge among Spanish-speaking members of the mushroom farm community.

Spotted Wing Drosophila Working Group to Identify and Prioritize Research and Extension Needs, Greg Loeb, Cornell University, $10,000.

The invasive spotted wing drosophila (SWD) continues to be a serious threat to fruit crops in the Northeast. This working group will keep northeastern fruit growers informed about SWD risk and the latest management tactics.

Brown Marmorated Stink Bug IPM Working Group: Sustaining Coordinated Efforts and Multiplying Expertise, Tracy Leskey, USDA-ARS Appalachian Fruit Station, $10,000.

The Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB) IPM Working Group will coordinate regional BMSB efforts against the invasive pest, conduct an identification clinic, and collaborate with companies to improve monitoring tools.

Regional Partnerships to Promote IPM in Urban Latino Communities, Lyn Garling, The Pennsylvania State University, $40,000.

Garling will reach urban Latino communities in the Northeast with culturally-relevant education about preventing rats, mice, cockroaches, and bed bugs.

Training Diverse Urban Agriculture IPM Practitioners and Facilitating Connections to Underserved Markets, Jennifer Hashley, Tufts College, $49,909.

The organizers of this project plan to help new growers, mostly immigrants, refugees, and beginning small-scale urban farmers, who want to expand production, improve crop quality, and grow sales of IPM-produced crops. They also will help growers bring their produce to low-income urban markets.

Translation and Promotion of a Cranberry Weed ID Guide, Hilary A. Sandler, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, $18,504.

Sandler will translate and promote a weed identification guide, Guide d’identification des mauvaises herbes de la canneberges, originally published in Quebec, Canada. No comparable cranberry weed guide available in English covers the breadth of information found in this French guide.

Strawberry Pest Management Strategic Plan, Ann Hazelrigg, University of Vermont, $20,000.

Hazelrigg will teach pest and disease identification and successful IPM strategies for small fruit and diversified vegetable farms. They will visit a small fruit propagation facility in Quebec, Canada and look at new and innovative growing systems that may be adapted for northeastern growers.

New England Fruit and Vegetable Scouting Network, Katie Campbell-Nelson, University of Massachusetts, $49,487.

Campbell-Nelson will organize a scouting and pest advisory network tailored to the New England climate and seasons, providing growers with local and regional pest advisories.

Training Hispanics in Urban Agriculture and IPM to Address Food Deserts in Connecticut, German Cutz, University of Connecticut, $45,000.

The Urban Agriculture and IPM training project will train Hispanic adults in IPM and organic food production and entrepreneurship. They’ll supply fresh food locally to food deserts in Fairfield County, Connecticut, home to Bridgeport, Stamford, Norwalk, and Danbury.

Northern New England Pollinator Habitat Working Group, Amy Papineau, University of New Hampshire, $17,100.

This working group will collaborate on methods to protect pollinator habitat in northern New England. They plan to protect existing habitat on farms, roadsides, and natural areas, and plant new flowers that are beneficial to pollinators.