USDA Funds Pest Programs

The USDA Southern Regional IPM grant program recently funded 8 of 25 proposals for a total of $796,355. The Southern Region IPM Center at North Carolina State University manages the annual competition.

Clemson University researcher Guido Schnabel will develop a monitoring program for fungicide-resistant peach brown rot.

Two projects will facilitate pest identification. Weed scientists Gregory Armel and Gilbert Rhodes (University of Tennessee) and Robert Richardson (North Carolina State University) will develop a pocket guide on invasive weeds in the Appalachian region.

For those seeking pest ID help online, Keith Douce at the University of Georgia will expand the Bugwood Network and will improve methods for image submission, processing and retrieval.

Four researchers at the University of Kentucky will evaluate weed-control methods for noxious weeds such as ironweed, musk thistle, spiny amaranth and other weeds. Weed expert Jonathan Green and his team will test the effectiveness of mowing, herbicides and fertility manipulations to control these weeds.

Three North Carolina State University projects will explore insect pest control.

Jules Silverman will test a new way to control the invasive Argentine ant, a pest that now infests the entire Southeast. Silverman’s method involves starving the ants — by keeping them from their favorite food — and then luring them to insecticidal bait.

Duration of projects varies from two to three years.

Source: Southeast Farm Press