Benefits of Pest Management Strategic Plans and Crop Profiles

Each year several million dollars are available in the form of competitive grants to support pest management research and extension programs. The Requests for Proposals (RFPs) for these grants have become more specific in recent years reflecting the desire of the funding agencies/organizations to address important near and mid-term pest management-related projects. Some common themes are often found in the RFPs. One is a request for a discussion on how the proposed project will meet stakeholder needs. Stakeholders traditionally include the clientele of a program or project, such as farmers or agribusiness, but can also include other persons interested in the outcome of the research or extension program. Some RFPs indicate preference will be given to proposals which address priorities established by stakeholders; consequently, proposal review panels look for evidence of stakeholder involvement.

Another common theme in some of these grant programs is to find pest management alternatives for pesticides canceled or restricted as a result of federal legislation or regulation. The Methyl Bromide Transitions Program (MBT), Crops at Risk from FQPA Implementation (CAR), and FQPA Risk Avoidance and Mitigation for Major Food Crop Systems (RAMP) are examples. The USDA Regional Pest Management Centers established in 2000 in each USDA region are focal points for issues related to pest management and pesticide-related information.

Pest Management Strategic Plan The development of a Pest Management Strategic Plan (PMSP) is a method of setting pest management priorities for a commodity and demonstrating stakeholder involvement in the process. The USDA's Office of Pest Management Policy (OPMP) developed the PMSP as a planning and priority setting process to facilitate a transition to alternative pest management practices when one or more pesticides used to manage pests on a crop are lost as a result of regulatory review. Land Grant University research and extension specialists or commodity organizations, often with the assistance of personnel from the USDA OPMP, facilitate the development of PMSPs. Growers, commodity representatives, land-grant specialists, food processors, crop consultants, and other stakeholders are generally involved in the process.

Ideally, a PMSP outlines the current state of pest management for a commodity at the state, region, or national level and presents a prioritized list of needs for research, regulatory activity, and extension education to facilitate the transition to alternative pest management practices. The plans take a crop phenology and pest-by-pest approach to identifying and assessing the current management practices (chemical and non-chemical). The stakeholders involved in the PMSP process also identify and prioritize their pest management research, regulatory and extension needs.

Crop Profiles The USDA Office of Pest Management Policy introduced the concept of crop profiles about four years ago as a means to describe the production practices for a commodity, the pest problems associated with its production, and the pest management practices (chemical and non-chemical) currently used to control the pests. Crop profiles are most frequently developed on a state by state basis but are sometimes developed on a regional or national basis for a specific crop. More recently descriptions of the type and frequency of worker activities with the crop have begun to be added to crop profiles. Crop profiles can be used to identify areas of critical need (i.e. those crops or situations where few if any alternative control measures are available to producers). Crop profiles do not generally identify and prioritize pest management research, regulatory and extension education needs for a commodity. Crop profiles are the starting point for developing a PMSP where the stakeholders involved in the process can identify and prioritize such needs.

Commodity organizations are finding crop profiles and PMSPs to be useful in dealing with issues raised by EPA in risk assessments for specific pesticides and in identifying critical pest management issues and prioritizing research efforts for the commodities they represent. The EPA has found crop profiles and PMSPs to be extremely useful in conducting benefits assessments for their occupational and environmental risk assessments. The executive summaries of some PMSPs are being used to provide information to legislators and other persons who have an interest in agricultural issues. Commodity boards and commissions that have research programs are finding that the identification and prioritization of pest management needs in a PMSP ensures that these research programs address clientele needs. Crop profiles and PMSPs provide a baseline estimate of the state of the art of IPM for a commodity and an opportunity to evaluate pest management goals.

Examples of completed crop profiles and PMSPs can be found at www.ipmcenters.org. Instructions for preparing crop profiles and a check list for organizing a PMSP can also be found at www.ipmcenters.org.

The following are several examples of where PMSPs and crop profiles, along with a good research plan, have been successfully used to support the need for competitive funding requests:

Michigan. Carrot producers obtained a USDA Pest Management Alternatives Program (PMAP) grant for "Reducing Use of B2 Carcinogens in Michigan Carrots" totaling $39,498 as a result of the priorities identified in a PMSP for carrots.

Michigan. The Michigan carrot PMSP was a strong basis for a $1,254,061 RAMP grant to a Michigan State University researcher for a project called "A Partnership Among Eastern U.S. Carrot Stakeholders to Develop and Implement IPM".

Michigan. Blueberry producers received a PMAP grant for "Insecticide Mitigation Strategies for the High Risk, High Value Michigan Blueberry Crop" in the amount of $135,500 which was based on the priorities identified in the Michigan blueberry PMSP.

Michigan. A Michigan State University researcher obtained a Crops at Risk grant for "Seeking Alternatives to B2 Fungicides and Carbamate Insecticides for Asparagus Production" in the amount of $396,425 based on priorities established in an asparagus PMSP.

New Jersey. A PMAP grant for "Reducing Insecticide Use and Their Associated Risks in Peach Production" was funded at $164,479 based on a completed crop profile and PMSP which defined research priorities for peaches.

North Carolina. Several collaborators obtained a $163,113 PMAP grant for "Southern Appalachian Apple IPM Research and Implementation Program." A regional crop profile was used to establish the need for this project.

California. The California Department of Pesticide Regulation initiated a Pest Management Alliance (PMA) grant program in 1998. One of the criteria for successful submissions is a detailed analysis of pest management issues for the commodity. Crop profiles and PMSPs serve this requirement. As a result, a number of commodity groups and/or university researchers have been successful in obtaining PMA grants. They include:

- The California Walnut Board was the first group to successfully obtain funding based on a crop profile . They have received three grants totaling $265,750.

- The Almond Board of California was obtained a three year grant in the amount of $296,732 based on their crop profile and PMSP.

- Other California commodities receiving PMA grants are rice ($20,000); poultry ( $199,597 ); wine grapes ($99,380), prunes ($142,727), lettuce ($58,000), strawberry ($186,758), pear ($165,750), sugarbeet ($156,690), and peach, plum and nectarine ($82,576). All of these commodities have crop profiles. Peaches and wine grapes also have PMSPs.