CU shares $4.3 million for Northeastern Integrated Pest Management Center

GENEVA, N.Y. -- The United States Department of Agriculture has awarded $4.3 million to the Northeastern Integrated Pest Management Center (NE IPMC), a regional organization that promotes practical pest management solutions for urban and rural settings throughout the Northeast.

Using a network of people, print, and electronic resources, the center supports the development and adoption of integrated pest management (IPM), a science-based approach that fosters economic benefits while protecting the environment and human health.

"The Northeast presents diverse challenges when it comes to pest management," explained James VanKirk, the Cornell senior extension associate responsible for the organization's daily operations. VanKirk co-directs the center with John Ayers, a plant pathology professor at Penn State University, and is assisted by information specialist Liz Thomas and writer Liz Myers, both at Cornell.

"The region has a strong agricultural base and is also highly populated. We're looking for ways to minimize risks associated with pest management in rural and urban areas while producing healthy plants and food and optimizing farm profitability," said VanKirk.

The award covers the next four years of the center's operations and represents a 44 percent annual increase over previous support. This increased support will enable the NE IPMC to create several new competitive funding programs that actively support projects addressing regional IPM priorities.

"The new funding allows us to build on our past successes and strengthens our ability to identify the real-world needs of growers and communities," explained VanKirk. "Once we've pinpointed the most pressing IPM needs, the center and its many partner institutions can respond by supporting research and providing reliable, accessible information to address those concerns."

Another new component of NE IPMC will be a biennial conference to serve as a gathering of stakeholders around the common interest of IPM. These regional IPM stakeholders include pest management users (such as farmers, nursery owners, park managers and homeowners), consumer and environmental groups, government regulatory agencies, communities, researchers and educators. The conference, planned for 2005 and 2007, will provide opportunities for new collaborations and will invigorate existing cooperative efforts among individuals, programs and agencies.

NE IPMC is one of four regional IPM centers nationwide and covers the New England states, Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia and the District of Columbia. Established in 2000 as the Northeastern Pest Management Center, the organization is funded through the USDA's Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service and is administered jointly by Cornell and Penn State.

For more information about the Northeastern Integrated Pest Management Center, visit this Web site: http://NEIPMC.org.