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What is IPM?

Additional Articles: Program Purposes, Policies, Procedures

Steering Committee

Vigorous Farms in a Safe Environment

Project Advisory Committees

IPM is an acronym for Integrated Pest Management, an approach to dealing with pests of crops, landscapes and structures, which incorporates concepts from the disciplines of systems science and ecology. The vast majority of the applied research at the basis of IPM has been carried out since the early 1970's at land-grant colleges in the US, and their counterparts throughout the world.

It is generally accepted that IPM is a systems approach to pest management, based on accurate pest identification and monitoring, use of economic and/or aesthetic thresholds, and use of all suitable control measures (both pesticidal and non-pesticidal) in an ecologically compatible manner, which maintains pest population levels below those causing economically-significant injury. If no effective non-pesticidal control measures are available, a key IPM tenet is that pesticides should be selected which result in the lowest possible risk to health or the environment.

Why is IPM important to the Commonwealth?

Agriculture and related industries (golf courses, sports turf, landscape and lawn maintenance, arboriculture, etc.) convey substantial benefits to the Commonwealth. These include availability of affordable, fresh local food and fiber, open space, recreational opportunities, and a significant contribution to the state's economy. In some towns, the few remaining farms constitute the largest amount of remaining open space, and many public or private water supplies are drawn from aquifers underlying this agricultural land.

However, because pesticides typically used in pest management have been known to cause environmental degradation and have potential human health effects, a need exists to develop and implement pest management systems which are less reliant on chemical pesticides. At the same time, there is also a need for such systems to maintain economic viability of affected businesses, food quality and affordability, and quality of life measures for all citizens.

Since its initiation in 1978, the UMass IPM Program has served as the largest single source in New England of research-based outreach education focused on integrated management systems for important service industries and agricultural crops. This has been made possible by the fortuitous combination of a group of recognized scholars working on targeted and well-focused applied research which is in the forefront of knowledge about pest ecology, behavior, and biological control, coupled with an aggressive and well-managed education program offered by staff affiliated with the UMass Extension Agriculture and Landscape Program.

Funding

Operational funding for the program is through a significant annual allocation from the Commonwealth's Department of Food and Agriculture (State line item 2511-3002, $275,000 in FY 01), from the United States Department of Agriculture (Smith-Lever 3(d) Pest Management funds, $112,000 in FY 01), from grower contributions and fees (approx. $10,000 in FY 01). In addition, salary and fringe benefit costs of some key participating faculty and staff are paid through the base budget of the College of Food and Natural Resources, and its Agricultural Experiment Station.

Stakeholder input

Statewide educational, demonstration, and research projects are currently funded for: cranberries, apples, vegetables, small fruits and greenhouse crops. Each project maintains a strong connection with end users through meetings of Project Advisory Committees. Typically composed of a diverse group of stakeholders representing industry, private IPM consultants, environmental and consumer advocates and others, project advisory committees play an active role in identifying research and extension needs and in providing a critical 'feedback loop' regarding feasibility. Furthermore, because many project advisory committee members are seen as leaders within their respective industries, demonstration projects which occur on their farms are likely to have a higher potential for diffusion into the larger community than were such projects carried out on University research farms.

In addition to project level advisory groups, a similar close connection is maintained with key stakeholders via the IPM Program Steering Committee, a similarly diverse group whose private-sector members are shown in the box. Public-sector committee members consist of two representatives from the Mass. Dept. of Food and Agriculture, the UMass Extension Agriculture and Landscape Program Coordinator, the statewide Extension IPM Program Coordinator, the Director of the CFNR Agricultural Experiment Station, and the Department Heads of the academic departments of Entomology, Microbiology, and Plant and Soil Sciences. This group is charged with providing annual review of project activities and proposals, determining levels of project funding, and developing a long term vision for the statewide IPM Program.

Private-sector groups represented on Statewide IPM Steering Committee

• Council on Agricultural Research, Extension and Teaching (CARET)
• Mass. Board of Agriculture
• Mass. Audubon Society (vacant)
• Mass. Cranberry Industry
• Mass. Farm Bureau Federation
• Mass. flower growers
• Mass. Fruit Growers Assoc.
• Mass. P.I.R.G.
• New England Pest Assoc. (vacant)
• New England Veg. And Berry Growers Assoc
• Private IPM Consultants

Vigorous Farms in a Safe Environment