2009 Annual Report

UC forges partnerships to increase IPM opportunities

For the fifth year in a row, UC IPM has worked closely with USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to help growers make pest management decisions that help mitigate air and water quality problems. UC IPM supported NRCS training, helped revise the NRCS Pest Management 595 Practice Standards, and provided comprehensive, year-round IPM programs as templates for growers to use in preparing their NRCS conservation plans.

In 2007 and 2008, an estimated 117,000 acres of California farmland were under NRCS pest management standard contracts, and growers of about 18,000 acres implemented year-round IPM programs.

In recognition of the successful partnership, UC IPM and NRCS were among recipients of the International Award of Recognition at the Sixth International IPM Symposium. (See the related article.)

UC IPM–NRCS partnerships in 2009 include:

• Stanislaus County NRCS and CDPR developed an educational program to reduce pesticide impacts on air quality and reduce pesticides in surface water runoff from nut and fruit tree orchards. Materials included a guide to using year-round IPM programs to reduce volatile organic compounds and demonstrations of a directed sprayer that UC IPM Advisor Walt Bentley developed. The core project group includes NRCS, UC IPM and Cooperative Extension farm advisors, CDPR, three resource conservation districts, a county agricultural commissioner, and several commodity groups.
• Four training sessions held in Yuba, Monterey, Fresno, and Riverside counties focused on pest identification guides, management practices for cost-share programs, and methods to strengthen IPM networking.
• UC IPM and CE advisors are working with Stanislaus NCRS to develop 10 to 15 grower IPM plans that will be eligible for cost sharing through a cooperative conservation partnership initiative grant awarded to East Stanislaus Resource Conservation District. UC IPM will help develop the framework for these plans and provide expertise for developing and reviewing them.
• As almond production continues to increase in California, farmers new to almond growing have to learn a new production and pest management system. A partnership that includes the Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF), the Almond Board of California, and UC IPM and Cooperative Extension advisors is developing and providing demonstrations, field meetings, and educational programs through a pest management alliance grant from CDPR. The program is helping to increase the IPM knowledge base of new almond farmers and pest control advisors in the Central Valley. Seven demonstration sites were established to help almond growers incorporate additional IPM practices into their existing production system, and 105 people attended four field meetings. Extension advisors provided content for two CAFF-distributed newsletters, and updates about almond pests throughout the state were distributed through AgFax: Almonds after weekly interviews with pest control and extension advisors.

Contact

Pete Goodell, IPM Extension Coordinator, UC Statewide IPM Program
(559) 646-6515

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