New England-wide Demonstration of 

 an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) 

 System for Apples and Consumer 

 Education in IPM as a 

 Pollution-prevention Strategy 



WilUam M. Coli and Craig S. HoUingworth 

 University of Massachusetts 



James F. Dill 

 University of Maine 



Alan T. Eaton 



University of New Hampshire 



Heather Faubert 

 University of Rhode Island 



Lorraine M. Los 

 University of Connecticut 



The strategies known collectively as IPM 

 have been recognized as one way to reduce the 

 amount of agricultural chemicals released into 

 the environment. IPM has been shown to 

 address the needs of New England agriculture, 

 and pollution prevention, by reducing and 

 optimizing pesticide use. 



Many New England growers have been in 

 the forefront of widespread early adoption of 

 these new technologies, partly as a conse- 

 quence of aggressive, regional Cooperative 

 Extension outreach programs. In Massachu- 

 setts, for example, approximately 40% of the 

 state's cranberry and apple acreage, and about 

 20% and 9% of strawberry and sweet com 

 acreage, respectively, receive some form of IPM 

 monitoring and advice from private-sector 



scouts or consultants, and still larger acreages 

 are managed under IPM by the growers 

 themselves. Such widespread grower adoption 

 of IPM has set the standard for environmen- 

 tally responsible agriculture. 



However, although consumers typically 

 express concern about perceived public-health 

 and food-safety risks associated with 

 agrichemical use, a very small percentage of 

 the general public has even heard of IPM, and 

 still fewer recognize its potential benefits and 

 the extent of its use. More widespread 

 demonstration and consumer education of the 

 environmental benefits of IPM are likely to 

 enhance positive consumer attitudes towards 

 local agriculture. 



In spite of the potential benefits to 



Fnilt Notes, Volume 62 (Number 2), Spring, 1997 



